Bolts of acceptance
by Intrige
Summary: Ruby, a troubled loud teen who has ADHD and is violent and bullied. Has a dark past and lives in foster care. Sapphire, shy and silent. Used to be bullied, suffers from social anxiety every day. Has a christian mom. They meet, and an intense, vulnerable and sexual relationship forms. Ruby is loud, angry. Sapphire is silent, scared. Together they create bolts of acceptance
1. Chapter 1 Wrath

Warning: Adult content, masturbation, porn. Triggers: ADHD, bullying.

* * *

"Ruby!"

Ruby awoke in her double bed. She didn't need one, but she hadn't said no when Mona and Hank had offered to buy her one. Hank had winked and teased her about wanting to have boys over soon. Ruby had just laughed it off, but taken the bed.

She streached herself out in it like a starfish. Cold autumn wind blew in through the open window. Mona had yelled her name, and she yelled again.

"Ruby, up with your butt!" She yelled and seemed to laugh at her own lame joke. Ruby rolled her eyes, threw the covers off herself. She started shivering and soon closed the window. She sat up in her bed, looked down at her body. She only wore panties, and her small boobs and nipples showed. Her stomach also stuck out, she stroked it and sighed. Her skin was dark brown, she wished she was of a lighted shade.

Ruby stood up, walked over to the closet with a long mirror stuck to one of its doors. She looked at her sleepy self. Her black afro hair stuck out like the hair of a troll doll. Her big round eyes were tired and almost closed. Ruby's eye color was red-ish brown. If light hit it, it looked more red than brown. She had a strong dark iris-circles. Her face was compact and hard around the edges, Ruby knew she one day would get a pretty strong jaw. But for now her face was round, but its hardness was evident, and would come sooner than later. Her nose was tiny and slim, so were her lips. facial traits she had inherited from her Norwegian father. Her mother, a second generation migrant from Africa, was obviously where she got her dark skin and afro hair from. If Ruby smiled, which she didn't do all too often, she would show two sets of pearly white small teeth. Fitting in her tiny but broad mouth.

She flexed her arms to give herself some confidence. She was fat, she thought to herself. But she was also muscular, and strong. Ruby looked down at her belly again, stopped flexing and touched it. More like chubby, she thought and nodded to herself. Then she found her morning robe on the floor and covered herself with it. She walked straight to the bathroom.

When she got down to the kitchen breakfast was ready. The smell of coffee and toasted bread filled her nostrils as she sat down by the table. Mona and Hank was already eating, they ate slices of toasted bread with meat or cheese on them. Hank was reading on a book while Mona was reading the local newspaper while she moved her shoulders slightly to the music, coming from the radio. They were both in a pretty good mood, sometimes they would sit quietly and frown to one another, Ruby knew then to shut up. But today was no such day, so she smiled to them while grabbing a slice of bread from a small basket on the table.

"Good morning." She said, they looked up and smiled back to her.

"Morning." They said in sync. Ruby laughed to herself. Then she put mayo and a slice of ham on her bread and ate it quietly. She was still tired after all and her mind drifted away to the place she was before she awoke. She also poured down a glass of ice cold milk. Mama Mia played on the radio.

She sang the song to herself as she walked up the stairs to her bedroom and got dressed. She put on a sports-bra, which made her boobs look smaller but was way more comfortable than a normal bra. She put on a black sweater and a red hoodie, dark brown pants and black socks. And of course, her headband. A wine red piece of clothing she had clipped out of skirt once many years ago. Mona had sown it in the edges so it wouldn't fall apart. It was kind of worn, but she loved it for that. It also kept her unforgiving curls out of her face.

She went to the bathroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth. All while humming dancing queen to herself. She didn't even like ABBA. She later peed while putting on deodorant, wiped herself and pulled her pants up. She went into her bedroom again and looked at her cellphone watch. Time to go.

Mona and Hank were already one their way out, Hank looked at her while he adjusted his glasses. He was plump and cute and was going bald. he covered his bald spot with a cap, his blond hair strains peeking through. Ruby practically jumped into her black sneakers and put on a light wind jacket. Also in dark red, she had her backpack ready. It was pitch black.

"Want a lift?" He asked. Mona smacked him on his shoulder with her long hand.

"Ow." He yelled out jokingly.

"She's supposed to walk remember?" She said. She looked over at Ruby:

"Right? To get all that flaming energy off your chest?" She smiled, Ruby walked past them as she yelled:

"No way that is gonna work!" She opened the door, turned towards them while she pointed at herself and yelled:

"I am an internal flame baby!" Hank and Mona laughed, especially Hank. Ruby laughed too, turned around and started running. As she ran she thought to herself: It's true though. I will always be like this. She ran as fast as she could.

Her school called GC2 was small. Garden city school was just down the road. It was much bigger. Her school GC2 was special. She had only been at GC2 for a year and a half, after the teachers at Garden city school realized she was impossible to work with because of her ADHD. Ruby looked at the small building and dreaded to go in. She knew what she had coming.

Teens her age, a little younger, a little older, stood outside the main entrance. They had split themselves into little gangs, emokids on one side, hipsters on another, and a few trendy ones in the middle. Ruby belonged in none of these. And they let her know it by giving her unwelcoming glances. And Ruby gave them right back at them, she made her face curl up with anger and disgust. But in all reality she wondered what it would be like to have a click to belong to. Sometimes she could even have a tantrum over it, if they had been particularly mean to her that day. They seemed rather peaceful today, at least for now.

They followed her with their stares while she walked in-between them. One of them pretended to couch.

"Boy." Ruby heard. She turned around, looked at a few faces who stared innocently at her. Then she turned around and walked in.

When the door closed behind her the sounds of the outside became muted. Even her faint sighed echoed in the halls before her. She walked straight forward to the locker rooms. Through an open entrance she found four rows of lockers in bright blues and reds. She was lucky enough to get one at the top row, so she didn't have to bend down to open a locker close to the floor.

They all had locks on them, she twisted hers until a click came from it. She opened her locker, she was actually almost a little bit too short for it. She put her shoes and jacket in it, locked it again. Then threw the bag pack loosely on her shoulder and started walking.

Not many people sat in the halls, it was a nice day so most of them stood outside the building. The few who actually cared about arriving first or simply didn't have anybody to socialize with, waited by their classroom doors. Just like Ruby planned to do.

When she arrived at her classroom door, with the sign 9B on it, she sat down. Only one other student was there. Kevin, a lonely troublemaker. He loved putting things on fire, never bothered her though. They had eye-contact for only a few seconds before both of them looked away. the boy was taller than her but much slimmer, he had brown hair. But had shaved it all off.

After a little while the other students slowly arrived. They sat themselves close to the wall, or stood leaning against it. Ruby overheard some of them talking about a party and about being wasted. While she listened, she wrapped her arms around herself. Mother, she thought.

Their Norwegian class teacher appeared in the hallway. The tall and chubby Simon, carrying lecture books in both of his hands. He looked up at them and yelled:

"Good morning class!" Moans and sighs of disappointment filled the edge of the hallway, and everybody including Ruby got up on their legs. Everyone sat a solid meter away from her.

Simon unlocked the classroom door, and a line of tired teens followed suit. The morning sun shone through the windows on the entire left wall, sounds of chairs being lifted down from desks overpowered student mumbling. The air in the room was tight, and as Ruby sat down by her desk right in the middle, she observed dust dancing in the sun-rays.

"Close the blinds will ya!" One of the student yelled, Simon walked to the left wall and pushed on a button. And electronic blinds slowly covered the windows from the above going down. It went painfully slow, Ruby sighed.

"You should all get your Norwegian text books. Chapter 4 page 63." Simon said, and most of the students stood up to go to their shelves scattered close to the walls of the entire room. Ruby and a few others stayed put in their chairs. Ruby put her feet on the desk and stared at her teacher, and he stared right back at her. She knew, and he knew, that there was nothing he could say to change her mind. She and the few others who didn't obey, with Simon as a teacher, got left alone. So he looked at her, and then looked away.

* * *

She had been eating her food alone, as usual. While she ate, one of the boys had thrown a paper ball at her desk. She had opened it, a drawing of a big breasted naked woman opening her legs. They had laughed and asked her if she liked what she saw. Ruby had stood up, given them the tip of her tongue and left with an attitude.

Now she walked in the schoolyard. She was in a hurry, walked in circles. Mumbled curse words to herself, she went to the closest dumpster she knew of and attempted to kick it down. It was useless of course, but she still kicked on it like crazy.

"Fucking hell, stupid little fuckers. lesbian my ass, they would like that wouldn't they!"

Her rage made her voice raspy, and she kicked until she heard something behind her.

"Hey , BOY!" She turned around. Fredrik, and his stupid little gang of hipster misfit.

"Want a piece of me lumberjacks!" Ruby yelled and raised her closed fist.

"Bring it on shemale!" Ruby stepped forward, and as she jumped to punch the guy, she yelled:

"I'm a girl you fucking retro wannabees!"The second her fist landed in his face, and his lens-less glasses flew off, the two other boys jumped on top of her and hit the back of her ribs. She screamed with pain but elbowed them both in their faces. Then flung herself on the ground while holding onto Fredrik's shoulders. Dragging him down with her, she twisted herself on top of him and pounced him in the nose. The boys flung themselves on top of her and made her crawl on the concrete ground, rasping up her knees in the process. She elbowed them again, but the three of them grabbed her limbs and pushed her down. Fredrik was bleeding from his nose. He stood before Ruby while she lay on the back. He lifted his foot to kick her in the face, but she moved away in the last second, grabbed his foot and twisted it. Using the last piece of strength she had left. He fell to the ground and she crawled on top of him again, just before she was about to hit him in the face again, the boys pulled her back. They were about to hit her with two sets of fists when a female teacher came between them,

"Stop god damn it, STOP!" The boys were pulled back and Fredrik got on his feet while Ruby was still down. He held his hand over his bleeding nose and yelled:

"She started it! She just hit me!" Ruby looked up at him as she narrowed her yes. That little bastard. She bent forward and hit him in the crotch, he bent over himself and fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Ruby laughed.

"Hey, stop it!" The teacher yelled, grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her aggressively on her feet.

She pulled Ruby away as she resisted, Ruby yelled at a Fredrik in pain:

"You should thank this school for not putting us in the same class you little mother fucker, or I would have made you sterile a months ago!" She laughed and got pulled further back.

"That's enough!" The teacher yelled and pushed her inside one of the back doors of the school. The one Ruby had walked out of just a few minutes before.

* * *

Ruby sat at the principal's office. Hege, the principal, sat before her with a desk in front of her. Mona sat beside her in a chair, always being her calm self. Hege on the other hand seemed furious.

"You can't just go around hitting people, again!" Ruby sank down in her chair, crossed her arms. Her bruised knees had been covered with band-aids, but still hurt.

"I regret nothing." Ruby said staring at Hege. She then looked away and continued:

"That idiot had it coming. They all did." Hege sat up, pointed at Ruby.

"Now listen here you.." Mona put her hand up elegantly, interrupted Hege.

"I wonder though, why Ruby would behave so violently?" She said rather quietly, and looked over at Ruby. Hege sat down, rubbed her forehead with her thumb and index finger.

"The boys said she just went nuts on them for no reason."Hege said. Ruby snorted.

"Of course they did." She yelled.

"What happened then?" Mona asked, still with her eyes locked at Ruby.

"They called me a boy, and a shemale." Ruby responded a little more quietly, as she again sank down in her chair. She looked over at Mona, who gave her a sad look and sighed. Then Mona looked over at Hege with a more strict facial expression.

"See, simply dismissing her as a mindless troublemaker in the ONE place said to actually help these struggling teens, is revolting. I am not saying how Ruby responded was right, but allowing such insulting behavior in your other students without punishment is not a good example to set. Time and time again I am sent here because Ruby, the bad guy has gotten into a fight. maybe you should try to nip the problem in the bud instead of just blaming the person who seems the most obvious." Mona stood up, looked at Ruby.

"Now, call me again if she actually does something really bad. Beating up her bullies is not one of them." Ruby and Mona looked over at Hege who did not have a pleased expression across her face. She had been owned, and she knew it. Ruby smiled at her principal, and arrogantly walked over behind Mona.

The second they had closed the door behind them, Ruby whispered to Mona:

"Thank you." Mona turned around and smiled.

"You do know you won't getting any allowance this week right?" Ruby smiled and looked down.

"Yeah." She responded. "But thanks anyway."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Ruby was sitting by the dinner table. In silence they all ate their spaghetti and tomato pause before Mona broke the ice.

"So Ruby had another fight at school today." She said, almost seemed out of breath. Hank looked up at Ruby.

"is that so?" Mona slapped her palm on the table and yelled:

"And you should have seen the principal. I seriously though she was going to call Ruby a brat. How unbelievable is it that the school only keep blaming her for these fight? She can't fight herself?" Hank giggled, then looked over at Ruby with a serious look.

"It should't happen in the first place though." He said firmly. Ruby bent forward and put her elbows on the table.

"I can't help it, I am just so fucking angry all the time, and they know just the buttons to push. I donno what their problems is!" She said, Hank leaned back.

"Now now, remember our talk about teens and problems and such?" He said, Ruby threw her hands from herself over the table.

"I have problems too, but I don't go around calling people shemale, gay and stuff! I only beat up the ones that do that to me!" Ruby felt herself becoming angry even now. If people just shut the hell up when she was around, she wouldn't need to hit anybody. This was all so unnecessary.

"Those walks to school and daily push-ups ain't enough is it huh?" Mona said, Ruby leaned back. She shock her head while she looked down at her food. Ate some of it off her fork.

"Well, I've been thinking." Mona smiled and leaned forward. "Maybe you should start doing sports? Something that will let out your anger. I think it will be healthy for you." Ruby swallowed her food, mumbled:

"Like what?" Mona leaned her head on her hand, her elbow bent over the table.

"Oh I donno. Soccer, swimming, karate, boxing, basketball?" Ruby pointed at her with her fork.

"How about boxing?" She said. Hank and Mona looked at each other, then at her. They both nodded. Ruby smiled.

"Great! When do I start?" She asked. Hank giggled again.

"Ask me again tomorrow." Mona answered. Ruby nodded, thanked for the food and left the dinner table.

* * *

Ruby sat in her bed with the laptop on her lap. A few hours had passed since dinner, and her door was locked. Faint sounds of a TV came from downstairs. She looked around in her room, smirked. Her room was painted in a dark reddish purple color, her walls filled with images of beaches and forests. And a few posters of Madrugada. The one window in her room had bluish purple curtains. She really liked her room. Her clothing was scattered on the floor and the blue carpet on the floor needed to be vacuumed. She loved it, the best room she had had.

She looked over at the computer, clicked on the google search monitor. before she pressed down on any buttons on the keyboard she made all the fingers on her hands twitch a little. In excitement, in nervousness. They call me a dyke, she thought. Then let's see if I am one.

For a moment she closed her eyes and thought back on that one time she had seen a woman in a bikini in one of those music videos on TV. The woman had water running down her tanned slim body, making her skin shine almost. She had randomly watched it on the TV in the living room, she had been alone at the time. She had looked at the woman, and something had happened to her body. It felt good to watch her dance erotically. It scared her half to death, and she never thought about it again, that is, until now.

This was it.

"Lesbian porn." She typed on google search, clicked the search button. Bit on the finger nail on her index finger. Put her hand down at the keyboard again.

"Woman getting fingered hard. Young girl licking mature woman. High schools students hard core anal. Lesbian threesome with strap-on." Ruby scrolled down the first page, scrolled up again. Clicked on the first one with the woman getting fingered hard.

A dark grey webpage appeared, and on the very top in orange writing it said: "Pornhub." Ruby swallowed, waited for the video to load. When it did she clicked on play.

There were two young women with smooth thanned skin, one a little paler than the other. The both of them had huge firm breasts, much rounder than hers, or anybody's. The few peeks she had gotten from the public showers looked nothing like this. Both women also had thick lips Ruby saw was fake, and long false fingernails attached to the tip of their fingers. They bent over each other while moving their butts forward and backwards. The one on top put her butt in such an angle that her vagina showed, she looked at the camera. Pouted her lips. She had long blond hair, it laid on her back like a distorted waterfall.

The women started kissing, they started moaning. The blond one slipped her hand down the brunette's stomach and touched her vagina. The second her fingers touched it, the brunette moaned loudly. The blond one started moving her fingers over the brunette's clitoris.

"Ahh yes!" The brunette yelled out while the blond one licked her neck. "Slap my clit!" Ruby felt her own vagina pounding slightly. To her fear and delight, she was getting turned on.

The blond one bent over the other one's vagina, spit on it, slapped it more. then she put her long fingers and nails into her vagina. Pressed it in, with all four fingers at once. The brunette screamed with pleasure, as if she was dying.

"You like that, you like that?" The blond one said while pouting her lips even more, moaning while looking at the camera. The brunette bent her head backwards.

"Yes, more harder!" Then the blond one put her entire fist into her vagina, Ruby's eyes widened. The blond pushed her entire closed fist hard into the brunette's vagina. The both of them moaned and the brunette made a face that looked nothing less but a person dying. She creamed out aggressively.

"YES! AAHH YES HARDER!" She yelled. Ruby started sweating a little. She rubbed on her vagina still with her pants on. So it's true. She thought to herself. She tilted her head as the video switched angle, to the woman getting fisted from behind. Didn't the video say fingering? She had always imagined it to be more.. pretty. She did like what she saw, but at the same time it felt weird. Ruby closed her eyes, and listened to the sounds of what she assumed was a hardcore orgasm and she put her hand down her pants. Rubbed her clitoris with her strong broad fingers. She was already pretty wet.

It didn't take long for her muscles to stiffen, for that warm tingly feeling spread its way from the crouch and only for a few seconds, devouring her body. Then it passed, the tiny headphones in her ears had fallen out, she heard faint moaning coming from them still. She lay limp in her bed, breathed heavily. She had the laptop on her chest, it moved along with her heavily breathing chest. She dried off a few drops of sweat from her forehead. Felt sweat stick to her inner thighs as she sat up. Ruby exited out of the website, sighed.

So it's true. I am a fucking dyke, she thought. But it didn't surprise her.

She laid herself on the side, her pillow resting underneath her head. The bed was still made. her face curled itself, her lips and brows tightened. A tear fell from one of her eyes, ran down the bridge of her nose and over to the other cheek before dripping onto her covers.

Not that anyone actually though she was straight. But now she knew, and it wasn't as fulfilling as she had thought it would be.

* * *

She sat in her classroom, feeling down still she had decided to actually put up her books and try to pay attention for once. She didn't feel like fighting the system today, and besides. She had to gave Mona and Hank a break once in a while. Simon seemed happy about it through.

Then, as always a paper ball got thrown in her head and landed on her desk. She looked towards the direction it had been thrown from, one of the boys on her far left looked at her and smirked. Alexander, he always threw this shit on her. Ruby looked down at the paper ball, tried to fight her curiosity. She knew it was bad, but she just had to unfold it and take a look.

On the very top of the paper was a butt, pooping big brown poops. It landed on a drawing of her and her skin had been colored dark brown. She was naked, and between her legs was a big fat penis about to penetrate what seemed like another butt before her. As she looked at it she heard Alexander giggle silently. For a second she felt like crying, thinking to herself: This is me now. Still bummed down about her realized lesbianism. Then red flew over her eyes, and she let her flame loose. She stood up yelling:

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FLYING FUCK!" Everybody jumped, including Alexander as he saw Ruby walking towards him with closed fists. Ruby grabbed the slim equally tall boy by his collar and pushed him up against the window, over another student who was still sitting down.

"You racist trans-phobic little shit!" She yelled, tears running down her face. She lifted her fist and slapped him hard across his face with her fist. His head flung to the side. blood dripped from his lips as he mumbled:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Simon dragged her away from him as she yelled:

"No you're not you mother fucker!"

"Hey Ruby, RUBY, hey!" Simon said. "What the hell is going on?" Ruby was still breathing heavily but had pulled herself enough together to not jump on Alexander once more. She pointed at her desk where the drawing still was was.

"Take a look yourself!" She yelled out of breath, and as Simon picked the drawing up she turned around and walked. A split second before she slammed the door behind her she heard Simon say:

"Oh my.."

Ruby walked across the slim and short hallway with big heavy steps. She closed both of her fists and mumbled to herself again. She walked passed a few cool teens who had ditched class. They hung around the entree and stared at her as she arrived.

"Hey dyke, didn't think you could PMS!" One of the girls yelled. Ruby walked up to them, made it look like she was about to hit the girl across the face with her fist.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" She yelled, the teens moved a step back and the girl lifted both of her hands, opening her palms towards Ruby.

"Wow, easy. It was just a joke." Ruby turned around and walked towards the girl's room. She slammed the door behind her and locked it, even though there might be others who need to go into one of the stalls. She didn't care, she fell to her knees on the floor. Out of breath, tears running down her face, she covered her face with her hands. Cried out like a big baby, occasionally hitting the floor with her fist.

She was in there for at least an hour. Not a single person tried to get in.

* * *

Ruby sat by the dinner table again, eating her chicken and rise in silence. After she had been done crying her eyeballs out at the girls-room, she had gotten her backpack from the classroom and gone straight home. No questions asked. She gad gone to her bed and fallen asleep, awoke when Mona called for dinner. Ruby was just so tired, in body and mind. Hank and Mona looked at her, she could tell that they saw.

Mona coughed lightly.

"So I got a phone call from school today.." Ruby sighed, looked another way.

"What happened?" Mona continued. Ruby sunk down in her seat.

"I just.. Ugh I got a really racist note thrown at me in class. I just couldn't hold it in.. I just, it was.. I'm sorry." Hank twitched his eyebrows under his glasses.

"Racist note?" He asked.

"I don't wanna talk more about this OK?" Ruby yelled out, clinching at her curls.

"Fine." Mona said, and they turned quiet again. Ruby sighed, picked in her food with the fork. She wasn't all that hungry.

"What about boxing?" Ruby asked while she looked up, tried to smile. She held her tears in.

"Oh yeah that's right. I called a boxing studio in town and it is room for you. If you want, you can come to a training session TODAY. It is off charge even, to see if you actually like it."

Any day but today, Ruby thought.

"Is there another one next week or something.. I don't really feel like going anywhere." Mona put her hand on the table, seemingly wanting Ruby to grab it. She didn't.

"Workouts help you forget ya know, and I am guessing you are pretty angry still." Ruby squinted her eyes at them, thinking hard. Then she sighed.

"Fine, but I get a lift to and from, and if I call 5 minutes in, get me OK?" The both of them nodded with enthusiasm.

"Yes yes, we will. It starts in two hours. Maybe you should finish your plate?" Hank commented. Ruby looked down at her food. Right, she thought and sighed again.

* * *

Ruby and Hank sat in the car parked close to a bus stop close to what looked like a workout studio. Small raindrops dotted themselves calmly on the car roof. Ruby looked over at Hank, who seemed to be lost in thought. He looked straight ahead, his big nose sticking out of his face. Supporting his glasses. He was clean shaved, calm, and as soon as Ruby looked at him he looked back. he smiled.

"If you don't wanna talk to anyone, you don't need to. Just say you wanna box." Ruby nodded, she bent behind to grab her bag, Hank touched her shoulder and pushed her back.

"And hey. Your skin color doesn't matter to us, ya know." He said while staring at her. His eyes were fucused and serious. A gaze she rarely saw in him. Ruby nodded and smiled.

"Now go and destroy a punching bag!" Hank yelled and laughed. Ruby put the bag on her lap, laughed.

"I will!" She opened the door, and before she closed Hans leaned on the side and yelled:

"If I don't get a bill from this place on a destroyed punching bag, you ain't getting dinner tomorrow!" He said and laughed, Ruby laughed along with him.

Ruby slammed the door shut, and Hank drove off. It was a small dark blue Toyota. Ruby smiled to herself. At least he didn't care, he and Mona. Ruby turned around while adjusting the bag strap on her shoulder, Looked at the workout studio. She felt the tiny water drops on her face, it was just barely noticeable.

The building was grey, so it was no surprise to Ruby when she walked in that the walls were grey on the inside too. Boring, Ruby frowned. Work out equipment like weights and treadmills were scattered evenly in the gigantic room before her. Only one person was to be seen, a blond girl jogging with earphones. Ruby figured she wouldn't like to be disturbed. She looked down, saw a few pairs of shoes lined up to the wall close to the door. She kicked her sneakers off, placed them close to the other shoes.

Ruby walked further into the room, and a counter on the side appeared. With a man sitting behind it, seemed to work on a computer in front of him. Ruby walked over to the counter.

"Hi, where can I box?" The man peeked up at her for a split second, then looked down at the screen again. He looked like the type to work out, wore sports biker clothing.

"And you are?"

"Ruby Bello. I'm new." The man sighed with annoyment. he pointed at his left.

"Walk into that door and follow the hallway to the very end. There will be a door with a sign where it says "boxing"." Ruby nodded.

"Sure, thanks." She said, the man didn't respond. Ruby walked off, and in through the door. A long grey and not to mention silent hallway was in front of her. Much like the ones at her school, Ruby's head grew heavy. She was still kinda tired.

Ruby stepped before the door with "boxing" on it, didn't know weather she would knock or not. She decided not to. She opened the door carefully and walked in, yawned as she did.

She had walked into a very dark room, with almost black walls. There was a pretend bozing ring in the very middle, but no stage. Just four sets of rubber fences and a big lamp lighting on it. The room was big, and close to the walls around it were big punching bags, seemed to be randomly placed. And a few shelves up the walls with helmets and boxing gloves.

A man was leaning up against the ring, she could tell at first glance that he was very muscular. He turned around as she walked in.

"O hey!" He said with a deep but friendly voice. He turned around, snapped with the fingers on one of his hand followed by pointing straight at her.

"Ruby right?" She nodded, answered:

"Yeah." He stretched out his hand, she grabbed it and shock it.

"Toni." He smiled widely, let go of her hand.

"It's been a while since we got any new members here, especially a girl" He stated. Ruby looked down.

"Well I am only here to try it out. i just wanna punch stuff." Toni crossed his punped arms.

"I see, well." He clapped with his hands just once, rubbed them together.

"Let me get you some gloves." He turned around and walked to the shleved while Ruby put her bag down. She removed her black hoodie, slung it ontop of her bag. She wore a dark red tank top and black workout tights.

Toni threw the boxing gloves to her and she just barely caught them. He then walked over to the closest punching bag hanging from the wall, patted on it.

"Just knock yourself out." He said and smiled. Ruby walked over to it, untided the strings that knot the boxing gloves together. The gloves were dark brown and smooth. She smiled to herself.

Ruby put them on and lifted her arms.

"No no no, you have to stand properly." Toni said, interrupting her flow, Ruby jumped for half a second before she looked over at him. The tall man before her widened his stance and curled his back a bit. He lifted both of his arms in a "hitting position" and looked over at her. Ruby mimicked him. Toni nodded.

"Good, now if you are not hitting, you are blocking, like this." He said and lifted the lower parts of his arms up in front of his face. His knuckles turning towards the ceiling. Ruby did what he did.

"And then you hit." He said fast, and split his lower arms apart, hitting the punching back slowly and carefully to demonstrate. Ruby did the same, and the second she hit he lifted both of his hands and shock them, yelled out:

"No you've got to .. Eh." He moved forward, grabbed the hand she had hit with. He held the glove with a firm grip, his other hand held at her wrist.

"You can't let your hand bend when you hit. Not only can you hurt yourself but the hit will be weaker as-well." He said, Ruby nodded. He stepped away, she concentrated on doing as she was told, for once. She made sure the muscles in her hand were tight, and she hit again. She felt her hand and boxing glove hit the pouching bag much harder now, he was right. Ruby smiled.

"See?" Toni said and smiled. Ruby let her arms fall down.

"Thanks, but I kinda wanna be left alone." Toni stepped back.

"That's OK. Tell me if you need anything." He responded, Ruby nodded, and he turned around and walked. He opened the door and before he went through it he looked at Ruby who now was ready to hit again, and said:

"Other youngsters like you might arrive and box though. Don't worry, they're kind and all." Ruby turned towards the punching bag, and just as Toni had closed the door behind him, she whispered to herself white she started hitting:

"Yeah right." She thought about all the mean spirited people in her life, and hit again. She thought about Alexander's note, hit even harder. About Fredrik and his stupid pals, pouched the bag as hard as she could. There weren't even a second between her punches. She stopped, breathed heavily.

The door opened behind her, a boy walked in. She looked over at him.

"Hello." He said, Ruby snorted, turned towards her punching bag again. Ruby started punching again while hearing him move about behind her, and after maybe a few minutes he started punching too. After a while she forgot he was there. It didn't take many negative thoughts to make her angry again.

And for what seemed a while she didn't think a single word, didn't imagine a single picture in her head. She just punched, and the sounds of fabrics clasping felt like a rhythm to a song. All she knew for those moments, no matter how tired she got, was punching.

It got broken off twice, first by another boy, tall and slim. Then a dark skinned tiny fat girl with beefy arms. She was much shorter than Ruby, who was about average. The boys greeted her like one of the guys, called her Amethyst. Ruby didn't care much, and started punching again. Mona was right, she had thought. it helped her forget.

After that she had only taken a few minor breaks on her own terms. She had more anger to burn out than she had first anticipated, so she had gone at it for at least half an hour. When she finally thought she was done, she was exhausted. Her arms glittered with sweat, and she was completely out of breath. Drops of sweat ran down her forehead, and from her armpits. She dried them off with both of her hands, couldn't care less how it looked. She went over to her bag and dragged out a water bottle, drank from it as she grabbed her cellphone. her eyes got wide, she had been here for more than a hour and a half.

She found Hank on the number list and called him. After a few beeps he picked up the phone.

"Sorry it has been so long, you haven't gone to bed or something have you?" He usually got to bed really early. It was eight in the evening.

"I was about to call you, I am getting pretty tired. You're having fun?"

"Yeah." She sniffed, dried off her nose. "It's great."

"Good, OK I'll get in the car now. Wait by that bus stop remember?"

"Yeah OK bye." Ruby hung up, put her cellphone in the bag, grabbed it while she took a sip off her bottle. She started walking. On her way out the door she met Toni.

"Hey there Ruby, see you on Friday?" It was Tuesday.

"Yeah." She said still out of breath.

"Great! Bye now!" Ruby laughed, the man was so enthusiastic he almost sounded gay. She walked passed him, he walked into the room and closed the door. Ruby grew silent, thought to herself: But I am the gay one. She sighed.

She jogged to the entree of the building and put on her shoes. Walked outside into the refreshing dusk. She had her jacket over her shoulder, it almost fell down when she lifted her arms to air her armpits. They were hairy.

"Ahh." She whispered, smiled to herself. She looked around, somebody was sitting at the bus stop. She put her arms down, looked up at the sky. Dark and light blues filled the sky and light clouds covered the whole thing. The sunset was already behind the mountains far away, in half an hour it surely would be completely dark.

Ruby walked over the road, a car passed behind her. The bus stop consisted of three walls with big windows on them and a flat roof. A bench was placed inside of it, and a light bulb lit down on the person sitting on the bench. A girl.

Ruby sat down on the bench and slung her bag on the ground beside her, there was more than a meter between them. The bench was pretty long. She had long almost white hair and tanned skin. Her long hair covered her shoulders, and her bangs covered both of her eyes. Her lips were thick and round, Ruby tried not to stare.

She sat with her hands firmly on her lap. She wore a dark blue skirt ending just below her knees, Followed by smooth white shoes. Her smoothly shaven bare legs were pushed against one another. Her white shoes seemed pretty new, weren't dirty at all. Ruby looked up at the ceiling, came to realize it didn't rain anymore. While still looking up she took her jacket resting on her shoulder and dried off her sweaty arms, sighed.

When she looked down again the girl stared at her. She had removed some of her bangs out of the way and one of her eyes appeared. It was light blue. An unusual sight coming from such a tan girl. A tan that seemed pretty natural. The second they got eye contact, the girl looked away and down at her feet. She seemed familiar.

"Have I met you before?" Asked Ruby. It took a few second before the girl still looking at her feet, shrugged.

"Which school do you go to?" She asked again, the girl lowered her head even more. Of course, why would anyone want to speak to her? Ruby leaned back and crossed her arms, anger flew in her for a second when she whispered:

"I wouldn't want to talk to me either." She sighed, looked down at her stretched out feet.

"I.. Um." Came from the girl, Ruby looked at her surprised. Her voice was a tad bit dark, very gentle.

"I go to The Garden City school. I've seen you around." She spoke monotonously, stole a glance at Ruby before looking down again. She was just shy? Ruby smiled. Cute.

"Yeah? Everyone from GC2 has P.E there." They didn't have a gymnasium of their own, not even a soccer field on the outside, Garden City had it all.

"What's your name?" Ruby asked.

"Sapphire. Yours?" The girl quickly answered.

"Ruby. Pretty name." She smiled weakly, looked away for a second. Ruby shouldn't have said that.

"Thanks, you too." Sapphire responded, Ruby smiled to herself. Sapphire wasn't put off? Excitement filled her stomach. Sapphire looked at her again, still with one of her eyes covered. At first her face was expressionless, then she smiled a bit again. The white light from the light bulb above her lit gently over her face, her skin was smooth. Her jaw was gentle, her lips glistened for a second as she smiled. Ruby sighed, her breath was worm.

Then Hank's car turned into the bus stop. Stopped right in front of her, he waved from the inside. Ruby felt a slight blush on her cheeks as she smiled and waved back. Hank looked so dorky in there, it was almost a little embarrassing.

"That's my lift." Ruby said and stood up. She looked at the girl as she turned around and grabbed the bag.

"I guess I see you around?" She asked. Sapphire looked up at her. The light coming from the car lit up her blue eye.

"Yeah sure." She responded. Ruby grabbed firmly on the bag's handle with both of her hands.

"Sweet. Bye." She turned around, heard a faint "bye" as she walked into the car. She slammed the door shut, a little weaker than usual. She smiled while she threw the bag in the back seat and looked at Hank, he stared at her and grinned.

"What?" Ruby asked. Hank fixated his eyes on the road.

"Nothing." He answered. Started driving. Ruby looked over at the bus stop through the car window. The girl sat there quietly, looked back at her. Ruby smiled to her as they drove off. Then she looked down. What a strange day, she thought to herself.


	2. Chapter 2 Silence

Warning: Adult content, masturbation, porn. Triggers: Anxiety, bullying.

* * *

"Sapphire! Time for school!" It was her mother. The second Sapphire understood where she was, she felt it. The tension.

She pulled the covers carefully off herself and placed her feet on the floor. She only wore panties, quickly stood up and found her morning robe hanging on a hook. Her room was clean, light blue and organized. A few posters of The Beatles and Agnes Obel were randomly placed here and there. Her furniture was white, just like her curtains and carpet. The air was tight, she had forgotten to open the window before she got to bed. The morning sun shone at her from the other side of the room. She walked over to the window and opened it, bent herself down close to the opening and breathed in heavily.

"I'm up!" She yelled. Then she walked out of her room silently, feeling herself getting tense. The first thing she did after locking herself in the bathroom was to sit down and pee. Still half asleep she bent over herself and just let her bladder do its thing. After she had dried herself off she went to the sink and washed her hands carefully. Then she grabbed her prosthetic eye, which was just the front piece of the eye. The iris was identical to her own, they had taken a pictyre of it and printed it on her prosthetic eye. If only it moved in her eye socket as well, but it didn't. She looked at herself, sighed. When she didn't have it in she could see the meat inside her eye-socket. It was reddish pink, smooth and blank. It was kind of disgusting sometimes, but but she and her family were so used to it. She wondered what Ruby would think of she ever saw? Sapphire opened her eye and quickly put it in. She would never get the chance.

She went downstairs where both Arild and Nina were in a hurry bumping into one another.

"Good morning sweetie." Her mom said.

"Yes yes morning." Her dad said after her. They both went out of the kitchen and into the bathroom. Sapphire sat herself down by the dining table, and as she found a slice of bread and some brown cheese, Ola came down the stairs in his pajamas. He didn't even walk with his eyes fully open. Sapphire giggled.

"Dork." She said. Ola made an angry face to her that looked really funny, especially with his short blond hair sticking up everywhere. He looked crazy, so she had laughed. It made him smile too as he sat down and found something to eat.

* * *

When she was done she went up stairs to the bathroom again and brushed her teeth, put pink powder on her cheeks and a dark brown reddish lipstick on her big lips. It fitted really well to her dark skin tone. Then she dressed herself in a dark blue skirt and a white blouse. Put a simple light blue jacket over it. She had seen on the weather reports from yesterday that it was going to a hotter fall day than usual. Might even be the last time this year she could wear a skirt without stockings.

By the time she had gotten dressed her hands trembled, she sat down in her bed and looked down at her hands. She breathed heavily, and started opening and closing her hands in a rhythm while she counted:

"1, 2, 1, 2." Opening and closing her palms, who were turned up towards her face. She sat like that and counted for a solid five minutes before she calmed herself down. The tension was still there, but it was weaker now.

"Sapphire, time to go!" Arild yelled in the hallway. She got up from her bed, grabbed her bag pack on the floor. She ran down the stairs, went straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge. putting her lunch box she had prepared the evening before in her bag pack. She shut the fridge door and zipped her bag pack while she ran into the hallway. Arild looked at her as she sat down on the floor and put her shoes on.

"Doing ok?" He asked, Sapphire looked up at him fast.

"Yes now let's go before it comes again." Arild nodded, she stood up and threw her thin purple jacket on. They were the last ones out of the house, Ola was already on his merry way. Sapphire saw him in the distance on the road. He went to the school she used to go to when she was younger. She smiled. He had many friends. Weak wind blew over her side, making her long loose hair move slightly. It was sunny, and hotter than normal, still not very worm though.

She and Arild got into the car and slammed the car doors shut. He started the car and the radio turned itself on. As he drove out the driveway Sapphire moved her legs to the music. And he tapped on the wheel, it was Rihanna.

It took almost fifteen minutes to drive to Garden City school, and she could feel herself getting tense again while pretending everything was alright. She sang along to the songs while sweat came from her hands. Arild, who had his eyes on the road, didn't notice.

* * *

She had her bag pack on the floor between her feet, and when they had arrived to the school she picked it up and put it on her lap. She opened the car door and lifted her bag pack at the same time. Before she closed the door Arild said bye. She closed it, waved, they were standing in the middle of the parking lot. Exactly where Ruby had walked. Arild backed out a bit, then turned, and drove off. Their fancy BMV glinting in the distance, and then diapering.

She looked around herself, suddenly feeling alone. The parking lot was big, a few cars, probably belonging to the teachers, were scattered about. A few teens began arriving many meters away, Sapphire felt herself tense up. She started walking, looked up at the 5 floor high school building, bright red with many windows. They all had curtains of obnoxious patterns and colors.

She walked up the small steel stairs with lots of holes in them. Snipes could be seen through them, at least it didn't smell. She opened one of 3 doors almost entirely consisting of glass, and walked in. Her hands were shaking.

She entered a short hallway with stairs going up and down, yellow walls. She walked straight ahead and through yet another door. There she arrived to a long hallway with a big open entree right ahead. She walked through that too, and entered a big white walled room filled with gray boring lockers. Tall as the wall with lockers on the top and bottom. She had one on the bottom.

Sapphire unlocked her locker with a key she had dragged from one of the side pockets on her bag pack. She had sat down on her knees, taken off her shoes like a toddler and switched them out with a pair of slippers. She also took off her wind tight little jacket, folded it nicely and placed it carefully over her shoes. She patted her folded jacket 3 times, she always had to do that. Then she closed her locker and locked it, put the key back in its pocket.

Sapphire stood up, put her bag pack over her shoulder. She looked down at both of her hands, they still trembled. She heard someone coming, started hyperventilating silently. She turned herself towards the closest wall, looked down at her hands again. She started opening and closing them again, counting in whispers. It helped a little bit.

She swallowed her tongue, held tight over her bag pack strops, and sighed. She entered the hallway, with countless teens sitting against the walls with their legs sticking out. She felt like someone was going to stumble her at any given moment. She knew that someone rarely did. She sighed with one big shaky breath, people were to busy talking to hear.

She had gotten through the hallway, now she found herself going up a staircase split into two. In its split, a door leading to the outside was placed. The school building was placed on a hill, so if she was to walk out the door she would walk on concrete. Not even a small flight of stairs.

The walls were blue, and a few students passed her fast, going down. Another set of split stairs appeared after the first one had finished, but she did not intend to walk further up. She walked straight ahead to a dead end with a door on each side. One was green, the other blue. Blue was represented 8th grade classrooms, green represented the 9th. She opened the green door as silently as she could and came to a big and long classroom with a big green wall in the middle. One could drag he wall back and forth. Right now it was half open. The sight of almost 50 students made Sapphire freeze for a few moments. Bolts of fear and restlessness crawled up her spine and completely paralyzed her body and mind. Then she got a grip of herself, tried to avoid the students supposedly staring into her soul, and walked forward. She found her empty desk, sat down stiffly. Her hands resting on her lap, fists closed and trembling. Her legs placed close together, but not over each other.

Three girls were sitting on top of the desk before her, chatting about something. Thousands of voices shouted over each other, making Sapphire's head hurt. It was hard to ears drop at any conversations. But then they looked at her, Camilla, Elisabeth and June. And she looked back for a second, noticing them noticing her. They normally did not.

Then one of the girls stared at her intensely, they got eye contact. Camilla stared at her, lifted her hand, and dragged down the skin under her left eye, stuck out her tongue. Camilla had a thin and symmetrical face, covered with foundation much darker than her actual skin tone. her eyes were blue, and her hair was blond, but a slightly darker one than Sapphire's. The two other girls had brown hair, and the same shade of goo smeared over their faces. She knew they were drinking.

"Waa gross." Camilla said while she let go of the skin under her eye. Elisabeth and June burst into laughter, and Sapphire looked down. She closed her fists even harder, closed her eyes and counted in her head. 1, 2, 1, 2..

The first two classes were really hard to pay attention to.

* * *

When they ended, everyone had to go outside and stand by the doorstep for 10 minutes. They could of course run around or something but nobody ever bothered to. Sapphire went straight to one of the restrooms with just one toilet.

She sat herself down, her legs spreading apart. She hyperventilated and covered her face with her shaky hands. Her breath grew louder and louder, before faint cries came roaring from her mouth. Tears pressed out her eye and eye socket. She tried holding them in as well as she could, a few times someone had heard her cries and knocked on the door. She had never answered.

The next 10 minutes had passed by in a blur, after a while she had walked out, found a clock on the wall and walked off to class again. This time a bit calmer than when she had left.

She came in late, and everybody stared at her as she walked in. Including the teacher Karen, but Karen knew. She nodded to Sapphire and let her sit down quietly without any remarks about being late. Sapphire was not as anxious anymore.

"Ok so what exactly started the second world war?" Sapphire switched books from her bag pack, opened her history book. Opened her writing book and started noting as a student answered Karen's question. After a little while she got bored, and started sketching a tiny head on the side, close to her beautiful handwriting. The head soon got afro curls and a headband. And a smile, Sapphire grinned to herself. Then she scribbled all over it, looked around herself and continued noting.

* * *

Another two classes in a row passed by before lunch had finally come. Sapphire had pulled out her water bottle and packed lunch, ate her two slices of bread with strawberry jam in silence. Nobody talked to her, bothered her, or looked at her. This is what she wanted, and she was contempt. She dragged "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman out from her bag pack and picked up where she had left off. She had read it twice before.

Sapphire walked out of the school building. Looked at the entree to the gymnasium, stood there for a second and waited. But knew that nobody would come. She walked down the steps and turned to the right, walked across the parking lot with people she didn't know walking alongside her. She never spoke to them, and they never spoke to her. Sapphire looked down at her feet, became lost in through as teenagers gathered at the very end of the parking lot, waiting for the bus.

"Hey Sapphire!" A boy yelled, she recognized the voice immediately. Jonas, Sapphire sighed, looked up.

Jonas was a tall lanky boy with brown hair. It was blank with hair gel. He had big blue eyes many girls she had heard often got lost in. Sapphire did not. He stood with 2 other boys and 3 other girls. They were all in her class. Jonas spread his legs , he stood about ten meters away from her. He bent his knees a little bit and covered one of his eyes with his hand.

"Go back to Rome cyclops!" He yelled out and walked on the spot. His friends laughed, the girls especially. Sapphire felt her anxiety linger in her spine as she looked away and sighed. She simply continued walking until she reached the bus stop. Kept her distance from Jonas and the others, who were now just talking again. The bus arrived shortly, packed with so many people.

Sapphire sat in the front, the air in the bus was so tight she felt she could faint. She breathed heavily again, but tried to hide it as well as she could. The bus drove off, and she looked out.

A bunch of GC2 students walked down a road the bus briefly passed. Sapphire leaned against the glass as she caught a glimpse of Ruby walking at the very end of the bunch, keeping her distance. A hot rush went through Sapphire's body and she forgot all about the other people in the bus. Then the bus drove past them and Sapphire sank down in her seat. A girl sat beside her, she hadn't noticed anything. Sapphire sighed with relief.

She was the second one stepping out of the bus. The girl she sat beside being the very first. Wind blew in her hair as she walked straight from one bus to another. It would go in just a few minutes and she didn't waste a second. She was at the bus terminal, a gigantic parking lot in the very center of the city, close to one of its little parks. Many buses had temporarily parked themselves there, colored in white and blues, often with a few logos in the back.

Beside the parking lot bus terminal, was a small kiosk. On one of its windows a big paper sheet with bus lines had been placed. All though it used to be a small TV with live bus lines, moving and diapering up on the list as buses came and went. It had been removed to save money. The few times she had gotten stuck in town and waited for the bus, she had missed that TV. The bus lines paper sheets were overly complicated. She had taken one peek at it while she switched buses, narrowed her eyes towards it. As if it was personally responsible for the TV being gone.

She entered the bus once more, had her orange bus card be scanned. If it was blue she had bought the card herself, if it was orange she got it from the state. Those who lived far enough away from their school got one for free. She didn't get one at her old school.

* * *

Sapphire sat in her blue bedroom in her white sheet covered bed. It was all made, and she had hidden herself under the covers without the covers moving out of place. Her laptop was in her lap, she stared at the screen.

She had found Ruby Bello on facebook once again. It had taken her weeks of digging, apparently more than one girl was called Ruby in this town. Even one or two with dark skin, who were well into their adulthood. Not many immigrants first or second generation were here. Most of them gathered in the capital, far away from here. Still, each school in the town had at least a hand full of non-Norwegians. She and Ruby were one of them to each of their school.

She looked at the picture of Ruby, a faint one and thin one. Seemingly cropped out of a group photo, with her smiling to the camera stiffly. Sapphire had never seen her smile with her teeth. She touched the screen with her index finger, right on Ruby's mouth.

She opened a new tab, googled "Butch lesbian porn", had hoped to see two or more butch lesbians doing it. But as usual she only found mostly femmes with strap-ons, a few butch and femme women. Those who wore a strap-on always made the other blow them off. Usually the femme blowing the butch, such a turn off. Sapphire thought about what she wanted. Thought to herself maybe she should search for black butch or something. But knew none of them would look exactly like Ruby, nobody did. She was special. She had such stereotypical Norwegian facial features, symmetrical and smooth. Her face was round, but with a tint of a strong jawline soon to come. No, nobody looked like her.

She just found a woman masturbating, switched tab to the picture of Ruby and slid her computer a bit down on the covers. So she had room to spread her legs and lift her skirt under there. She wore headphones on a low volume, and had already locked the door. She didn't need to have the covers over herself, but she felt like she could get caught anyway. So just in case, she did.

She closed her eyes, listening to the woman moaning with deep pleasure. Imagined it coming from Ruby's mouth. Sapphire massages her clitoris, bent her head back still with her eyes closed. She imagined Ruby being on top of her, thrusting herself against Sapphire with her entire body. Sapphire's legs would tie behind her back and Ruby would make room for her hand to massage her. Images of Ruby the day she first saw her, with sweat tighs and arms flew through her head. Sapphire's body shock slightly as hot tingly sensations spread out from her vagina. For a handful of seconds she had looked up in complete bliss and surprise as orgasm struck her entire body. Ruby screaming with pleasure.

Then she went limp, with warm sweat underneath her entire body, under her tights and in-between her legs. For a while she just looked up and breathed. She was out of breath as she still rested her hand in her panties. The skirt was covering almost her entire stomach and reached her chest. Then Sapphire carefully felt her way in-between her vaginal lips and pressed her long finger in. After a few careful thrusts in and out she added one more, found the uneven spot not too far in. And started rubbing it. It was Ruby, putting her fingers inside of her, Sapphire looked over at the picture of her. She pushed harder and harder, and a brewing big and completely different sensation became stronger and stronger. It took much longer, in which she would imagine Ruby in the strangest positions. Would let Sapphire put her hands in her, make her scream like Sapphire felt like doing.

Streams of hot delight shot out from a contracting being within her. This time, a small strip of fluid sprouted out of her for half a second. It felt like pee, but she knew it wasn't. At first she had been scared she peed herself, but after she had read into it, she had learned what it was. Female ejaculation, a bit rare apparently. She had come so hard it was hard to be quiet, and just for a few seconds she had let out weak moans in very deep breaths. Her entire body had tightened.

But then it released again, and she went limp again. This time more tired and more sweat. The moans from the video had evaporated in her pleasure. She began to notice it again. She pulled the headphones off her head, let it rest on her chest. She breathed heavily.

"Sapphire! Dinner!" Arild yelled.

"OK!" She yelled back. She let her skirt fall down, exed out the tab on her computer and put it in resting mode where it would be locked with a password. She then hurried to her bedroom door, unlocked it and went straight to the bathroom. She sat down on the toilet, pulled her panties down and lifted her skirt. She breathed normally now.

She dragged some toilet paper off the roll, dried her armpits under the blouse and forehead. Then with the same piece of toilet paper she wiped off her wet vagina. Surprised at how gently the paper glided in-between her vaginal lips, she looked at it. The paper was moist. She let it fall down in the toilet and peed a little, wiped herself again. She stood up, grabbed more paper and wiped the back of her thighs, threw it in the toilet and flushed. She pulled up her panties, let her skirt fall again and walked to the sink. in the matter of five second she washed her hands with strawberry scented liquid soap. After she had dried herself she smelled her hands and smiled.

"Dinner!" Nina yelled, as if Sapphire hadn't heard the first time.

"I'm coming now!" Sapphire yelled back once again. She sighed, unlocked the door and went down the stairs.

She walked through the white clean modern kitchen and into the dining room. Separate from the living room. The dining room was also bright and white with paintings of skies and one of Jesus. The dining table was long and blank, like a white sheet of paper. It was far too many seats for just the 4 of them. But sometimes Arild and Nina liked ti invite guests over, Sapphire never liked that.

The dining table had grey table bricks and big white plates. Glasses stained with light blue color, and two big red pots filled with rise and pretend Indian food. Nina, Arild and Ola were already at the table. Sapphire sat down, helped herself with rise and Chicken Marsala.

"We were just talking about the head hospital of the region wanting to cut costs again." Nina said angrily.

Sapphire grabbed a bite, looked at her mother.

"Really, what now?" Nina curled her back in the chair.

"Us doctors are fine, its just the nurses that concern me. They have fired two empleyees. Even though they were all just barely managing. Just so the head hospital can get more, since it is a bigger city and all. Us other smaller hospitals just have to get by with less. I head they wanted to close the child intensive care unit during weekends! It got declined though, but still!"

"Just awful." Arild said and shock his head. Ola nodded, even though he probably only understood half of it. Well, rather the consequences of it. Budget cutting any 8 year-old could understand.

Nina sighed, filled her fork and pushed it into her mouth. Chewed and swallowed while everyone was quiet.

"So how was your day?" She looked at Ola.

"Mine? Oh, it was great. I switched two really lousy Pokemon cards today and got really a good one! The kid didn't know what he was doing! Oh and I finally understood that math thing from yesterday's homework. Amanda explained it to me much better than you!" Ola smiled while he pointed at Nina, Arild laughed.

"Well yeah, she is a teacher after all, unlike your mother." Nina pretended to be grumpy, made Ola laugh a little bit more. Then she looked over at Sapphire.

"What about you?" Sapphire lightly sank down in her chair.

"I had really bad anxiety today, at school. But.. But I didn't go home after, I just went straight into class." She responded. Ola lowered is head.

"Now that's progress!" Arild yelled out and lifted his hand. Opened his palm with his fingers still close to one another.

"High five!" He said. Sapphire smiled, gave him a solid high five.

"Yes, well done." Nina said and smiled calmly. She wore a tight bright red sweater with a high neck, looked quite sophisticated. They all ate a few bites in silence before Arild blurred out:

"I had a great day thanks for asking." Nina laughed.

"Great!" She said, everyone laughed. Sapphire interrupted it all.

"Um, dad? Wanna drive me to singing class today?" She asked. Arild nodded as he responded.

"Yeah sure. But you'll get home on your own right? Or is that too much for you today?"

"No it's OK. I can do it." Sapphire responded.

"That's the spirit." Nina said and smiled. "It's so great to see you making progress. Good to know those appointments with Liv is paying off. Hey, when did you have a new appointment again?"

"I went just a few days ago remember? So in about two weeks I guess?" Sapphire responded, meanwhile Nina had spoken over her saying:

"Oh right right." And nodded.

Sapphire's plate was empty. She put her knife and fork down on it, put her empty glass on it at the same time. She picked the plate up and stood up.

"Thanks for the food." She said, Nina nodded. Then Sapphire walked out of the room and into the clean kitchen. She washed her plate and put it in the dishwasher. She stopped for a moment, watching how the bright daylight from the window close by reflected in the kitchen lockers. She sighed as she smiled, patter her tiny stomach when she realized how full she was. Then she turned around, ran up the stairs and went into her room again.

* * *

It knocked on her bedroom door.

"Yes?" She said, a little bit irritated. She sat in her bed with school books opened around her and with her laptop in her lap.

"It's me." Ola.

"Come in." The door opened. A year or so ago he used to burst in without warning, even though she wasn't doing anything special, she had hated it. And her parents had made a new rule, knock and ask for permission before entering. Sapphire smiled to him as he walked in and closed the door. He had been good at remembering the rule, he was not an impulsive boy, much like her in a way.

"Hi. I just.. Can I talk to you?" He looked worried and shy, held his own hands together. Sapphire moved away a few books while she nodded to him. Her bed was still neatly made. Ola sat down. His almost white hair stuck out in all directions. He was going to soccer practice today, almost at the same time as her singing lesson. He already wore the clothing required.

He stared at her with big brown eyes.

"Sapphire, are you not happy? Like, sad, all the time?" He asked.

"What? Why do you think that?" Sapphire responded. Ola shrugged.

"I just. Shouldn't that anxiety thing go away soon?" He said. Nina and Arild and explained the basics to him. That people had hurt her and it made her scared even when it was over, that she still thought it would happen when it didn't. That it made her really sad.

"It takes time, yes, a long time. If anything I am a little happier now than I was half a year ago. I make progress remember?"

"Yeah but. I remember when you smiled all the time.. Mom sometimes says you should have friends. Don't you have any? My friends make me happy."

Sapphire sat down on her knees right in front of Ola who sat in her bed, she grabbed both of his hands and held them tightly.

"I don't have any friends no. But I do have a good life, I have you right? And mom and dad." Ola smiled.

"But if I am not having anxiety or something like that I am actually pretty ok. I would lie if I said I was super happy. But I am not totally unhappy either. I guess I am somewhere in-between." Sapphire answered with a forced smile.

"Like in the middle? Hm." Ola responded, just barely grasping the concept of something not just being black and white. It must be a description of an emotion he had never thought existed.

"Just know that I am not unhappy at least." Sapphire said as she stood up. Ola jumped off her bed.

"OK." Ola said as he lifted his arms and hugged her tightly. His head reach to just below her breasts. Without looking her in the eyes he ran off and closed the door. Sapphire smiled to herself. She sometimes forgot what a good little brother he was.

* * *

Sapphire sat in the waiting room of Marius' music school. A few boys and girls were there, waiting too. Most of them looked like emokids or hipsters. But there were two girls in the very corner out of place, one really tall big girl with a round pretty face and big orange curls. And a smaller very slim one with shirt light orange hair. The big one wore a long white skirt and a white blouse, and the smaller thin one with a pointy nose tight pastel clothing. They stood put, and reminded Sapphire of herself a little bit. They seemed more proper than the others.

Hans opened his office door and walked out, stood with his back straight as he yelled for Sapphire. She sat up carefully and walked with firm steps up to him, he greeted her with his hand. She shock it. A few weeks ago he had tried to greet her with a hug but Sapphire had quickly pushed herself backwards and he had never tried to do that again. People are so used to hug girls, she didn't like it all too much. unless it came from her family.

He shower her into his office once again and sat down before his keyboard. Sapphire found her spot in the floor in front of him and dragged a folded piece of paper from her little jacket pocket.

"How's your week been?" He asked. His long arms folded themselves over the keyboard.

"Good, a bit of a rough day today but I am sure I will sing just as well." Sapphire answered and even smiled a little bit. She didn't smile to anyone all that often, especially not genuinely, and Hans caught that, and smiled even wider in return.

"Good, I think so too. Now let's start. Ok Riverside on 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3.." Hans started playing a few notes before Sapphire opened her mouth and started singing with the sheet of paper in her hand. She looked down at the lyrics as she sang:

"Down by the river by the boats, where everybody goes to be alone. Where you won't see any rising sun, down to the river we will run."

After she had sung that song by Agnes Obel 4 times in a row, and she had got it just right, Hans had suggested another song. This time by a woman named Ane Brun, a song called: I walked into love. He had played it for her, and she loved it. Hans had already printed out the lyrics for her and she had gladly taken it, folded it carefully and placed it into her pocket. Then she and told him good bye and left.

Happily she was walked through the seats in the waiting room, with teens staring down at the floor, now even fewer were there. She had opened the door a less quietly than usual and hummed the song by Ane Brun to herself. It was about to get dark, and the roads around here were blank. She looked at her phone, she even had a few minutes by herself before the damn bus arrived. She smiled to herself as she though: She didn't lie to Ola, she was sometimes contempt. She walked to the bus stop and sat down at the bench inside of it with a clean continence. She had moved her bangs over her eye and eye socket like she always did before entering potentially crowded places, if she remembered to do so that is. She had been humming the song quietly to herself, but had stopped when she heard a door open from far away. Scared someone might hear her.

She heard fast footsteps and a weak sigh came from someone coming closer and closer, and she could see a pair of black sneakers place themselves on her right side close to the bench. The person sat down, and Sapphire moved some of her bangs away from her one eye on the right, and looked at the person beside her.

It was Ruby! Shock and delight filled her body and butterflies twisted and turned in her belly the split second it took for her to recognize the girl beside her. And then Ruby had looked up, her arms and neck and face was sweaty and looked slippery. Reflected in the light coming from the bus stop ceiling. She had lifted her hooded jacket from her shoulder and dried her neck and arms. The very sight made Sapphire's heart beat fast, so did her crotch. Hot brewing blood pumped through her veins. Then Ruby had looked right at her, and for a split second their eyes had met. Ruby had dark brown eyes with a tint of red in them, and smiled slightly. It was too much, Sapphire felt herself blush and looked down eminently.

"Have I met you before?" Ruby asked. Sapphire shut her eyes hard, she felt herself blush even harder. She had such a beautiful high pitch voice, Sapphire had never heard it before.

"Which school do you go to?" Sapphire held her tongue, got the feeling that if she knew, she would also know about her one eye and be put off. This was just a silly little crush, she told herself. Nobody could ever love her. She heard Ruby stretch out her legs as the heels of her sneakers scratched against the asphalt.

"I wouldn't want to talk to me either." Ruby mumbled quietly and sighed. Sapphire felt embarrassed right away, here she sat and was being super egotistical. While Ruby probably just wanted to hold a conversation. It was a bit strange to just talk to a stranger, but still. From what Sapphire had seen she did not have any friends. And besides, Ruby was super hot.

"I.. Um." Sapphire said calmly. Attempting to undo her rudeness. She felt herself blushing.

"I go to The Garden City school. I've seen you around." She continued, looked over at Ruby's beautiful gaze before looking down, scared to reveal her blushing face. She had already said too much, she thought.

"Yeah? Everyone from GC2 has P.E there." Sapphire had nodded quietly to herself, Ruby probably didn't even notice, but the nod was to her.

"What's your name?" Ruby asked.

"Sapphire. Yours?" She answered quickly, almost as a reflex. She had imagined herself meeting Ruby a hundred times in her head. This was really happening.

"Ruby. Pretty name." Ruby answered awkwardly, she seemed tense for a moment as Sapphire looked over at her. Blushing at the compliment she said:

"Thanks, you too." She met Ruby's eyes once again and Sapphire's face and body grew hot as she started smiling. Ruby smiled right back at her and stared right into her soul, it felt like. It was wonderful.

A tiny dark car turned into the bus stop and stopped. Ending the best seconds of Sapphire's life. A fat almost bald man with glasses waved at Ruby from the car window. Ruby smiled stiffly at him and then back at Sapphire.

"That's my lift." She said and stood up. She took a few steps straight ahead as she turned around and stopped. The light from the car behind her made her strong body shape light up, as well as her tiny curls. Sapphire looked straight at her, taken by her beauty. She held a bag in both of her hands.

"I guess I see you around?" She asked.

"Yeah sure." Sapphire responded right away. Ruby smiled and seemed to grab around the handles of her bag a little bit tighter. Her smiling face lit up Sapphire's face and she just had to smile back. Tried to keep her mouth shut.

"Sweet. Bye." Ruby said and turned around.

"Bye." Sapphire responded. Still almost thinking this was a dream. She stared at Ruby as she stepped into the car and threw her bag into the back seat. She spoke to the man inside, her father? Then Ruby looked at Sapphire and smiled. Sapphire smiled back and they drove off. When they disappeared, Sapphire sighed with delight. What a weird day, she thought to herself.


	3. Chapter 3 Connection

Warning, adult content. Mild sexual references.

* * *

Ruby stood in the wardrobe inside the gymnasium. Girls in her class were undressing around her. Ruby stayed put for a while, held around herself while looking down. The girls laughed, walked in with slim bare butts, chatted. Everyone was slightly uncomfortable, Ruby was too. She sat down on one of the many benches scattered around the rooms with hooks close to the walls. She had hung her bag and jacket and other clothing on the one closest to her. She sat there silently, trying not to look. Whenever she did, they would shout at her and call her a pervert. They assumed since she looked like a dyke, was quite obviously a dyke, she would want to sleep with them, would fall for them. She of course, would not, simply looking around would be what she was doing. She tried to keep it to a minimum.

She always waited until there were only a few girls left in the showers. So she would have just enough time to shower and not be late. When the time came she quickly dressed off her part muscular part chubby body, which she hated, and walked in fast. The door was open, sounds of echoed water and voices went though the room many times. Light blue ugly tiles covered the room from floor to ceiling. There were no walls for her to hide behind, just sprinklers and tabs and drains in the wide open. She walked to one far away from the two girls left. Turned her back against the wall with a shampoo bottle and soap bottle in her hands. Without her headband on her dark curls covered her forehead right in front of her eyes. She quickly squeezed liquid soap into her hands and washed her armpits, arms, tights and as quickly as she could her crouch. Then she showered it all off in the hot water. Ruby stepped away from the running water and put shampoo in her hair, rubbed it hard on her scalp. She turned around, the two girls were done and walked passed her. Gave her two cold looks, they then looked away. Ruby bent her head back and washed off the shampoo. She was all alone in there now, so she sighed with relief and smiled for a second.

When she was done she turned off the shower, the room became silent. As she walked out, the sounds of her wet feet tapping on the floor echoes weakly. The room was damp, she closed the door behind her. The wardrobe was almost empty now. Only five girls were there now. They shared P.E. with two other classes to make room, only her class went to GC2, she didn't know any of these girls. Knew they all went in tenth grade. She was lucky, the ones who didn't go to her school usually left her alone. Staring at her sure, but never saying anything.

She dried herself off in a hurry, scared they might see her shapeless body and mock her, even still. And she quickly put on her regular clothing. A black tank top and dark red loose pants, and black socks. And of course her headband and black sneakers. She put on her jacket, packed her bag and was the last one out of there. The girls before her walked off just a few seconds before she did, she tried to keep a distance.

They chatted and laughed maybe ten meters in front of her, and made Ruby feel really lonely. She wished she had a friend in those moments. Someone to laugh with. That girl from the bus stop came to mind. She who was not put off by Ruby's presence at all. Three days had passed, and more often than not she thought about her. Especially before she fell asleep. Wondered what her life was like, if she had many friends. If she had a boyfriend.

Ruby was lost in through when she exited the gymnasium, let the door slam itself shut behind her. She looked down at the ground as always, and was about to make a small turn when she saw a couple of small white shoes sitting against the staircase in front of her. She looked up, it was that girl, Sapphire.

She sat there with a long dark blue skirt, thick grey stockings and a long light blue jacket closed around her busty chest. Her almost white wavy hair hung gracefully over her shoulders, completely covering them. Her bangs over her slim dark face, but her blue eye stuck out, staring right at Ruby. She smiled.

"Hi." She said calmly. Ruby felt herself tense up.

"H.. Hello." Ruby answered. She looked around, Sapphire sat there all alone.

"What's up?" Ruby asked. Sapphire shrugged.

"Nothing much, And you?" She asked.

"Well, I just had P.E." Ruby answered. She caught herself feeling slightly shy, that never happened.

"Obviously." Sapphire said and smiled weakly. Ruby laughed a little bit, nodded.

"Soo." She said, walked closer to where Sapphire sat.

"Mind if I take a seat?" She asked.

"Knock yourself out." Sapphire answered and looked to her right. Ruby sat down beside her, with a solid meter in-between them. She put down the bag from her shoulder beside her feet resting on the bottom stair. Damp blew from her mouth. It was kind of cold. For a moment they just sat there, not saying a word.

"How's GC2 anyway?" Sapphire asked and broke the silence. Ruby looked away.

"It sucks ass." She answered.

"Really? Too bad." Sapphire answered. "This school sucks too." Ruby laughed.

"Yeah I know, I used to go here like 1,5 years ago. All schools sucks really." She said, Sapphire nodded.

"I think I would prefer CG2 maybe, this one is too big." Sapphire said monotonously, she didn't smile anymore. Ruby leaned slightly forward, looked at her.

"No you wouldn't. GC2 is filled with even more shitkids than usual." Ruby said rather aggressively and snorted.

"Oh yeah, so I've heard." Sapphire commented and lowered her head a bit. "I'd prefer it to this one though."

"Why?"

"I don't like people all that much, the less the better." Sapphire answered. Ruby nodded.

"Who does?" She said and laughed.

"And besides." Ruby continued." You have to be a shitkid to be there, like me. You don't seem like the type." Ruby said and stretched her arms, yawned for three seconds.

"You're a shit kid? But you aren't even mean." Ruby smiled to herself and blurred out rather discreetly:

"Yeah well I am not mean to pretty girls." For a second she thought of herself as a little pathetic. Sapphire was probably just being polite, and here Ruby was so desperate for attention and acceptance that she blew everything out of proportions. But Sapphire immediately laughed out loud. Her laugh was light and wonderful and it made Ruby's body heat up with joy.

Sapphire looked over at her when she was done laughing. Her big blue eye staring right at her, her gaze filled with an emotion Ruby had never seen before. It was delightful, and confusing. The moment passed, Ruby sighed.

"So why are you sitting here all alone? Don't you have tons of friends following you around?" She asked. Sapphire lost her smile, and her face grew monotone. She shock her head carefully.

"No." She answered and sighed. "I don't like people and they don't like me. I am kinda weird I guess." Sapphire looked down a bit, seemed rather sad.

"I am weird too. And people HATE me!" Ruby said cheerfully as she waved with one of her hands. Sapphire looked over at her and smiled.

"They do?" She asked while still smiling. Her eye was filled with slight concern, it made Ruby smile. She leaned back, supported her elbows at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, they call me all sorts of things. Boy, dyke, shemale everything. Then I hit them in the face." Ruby leaned forward and opened one of her palms, hit it with her other closed hand. Sapphire laughed again.

"No seriously, I do. That's why I am at that stupid school." Ruby stated aggressively, getting kinda angry at herself for saying such unflattering things about herself to such a cute girl. What's wrong with me? She thought.

"I would do it too, if I could.." Sapphire said and lowered her head.

"Not that it actually works. It never does. I am just too angry." Ruby said, waving both of her hands. Sapphire nodded.

"So you have ADHD?" She asked and looked over at Ruby again. Ruby looked down and nodded. Then she stood up, grabbed her bag and turned towards Sapphire who was still sitting down.

"I got to go now. But.. If you want. We can meet up after school?" She asked, Sapphire looked up at her and smiled.

"Sure. Today my classes end half past 2, what about you?" Ruby smiled widely, couldn't hide away her joy.

"Great, yeah me too. So I'll meet you here then?" She asked, Sapphire nodded.

"Yeah, ok see yah." She responded and waved with her tiny hand. Ruby walked backwards, waved back.

"Bye." She said and turned around. Started walking fast. She knew she was late. Cold wind blew from her side, from the sea. When she had walked for a little bit she turned around. Sapphire stood on the very top of the stairs, looked at her. Ruby waved once more, and she waved back. Then Ruby turned her head forward again and started walking. Smiled to herself, butterflies grew in her stomach. Had she really just made a friend? That never happened.

* * *

Sapphire was having a really good day today. No anxiety, no mean comments coming her way, and to top it all of she got to talk to Ruby. When they had parted all Sapphire could think about was that Ruby had said she was pretty. It ringed in her ears for hours and made it hard for her to pay attention in class.

Sapphire went into the big room with all the lockers. Other students she didn't know walked along side her, most of them talking to one another. Sapphire didn't even look at them, her eyes were set straight forward. She walked to her locker, unlocked the lock and opened it. She had butterflies in her stomach and smiled slightly to herself. She quickly stepped out of her slippers and switched them out with her white shoes. Put them on carefully, and put on her long dark blue jacket. It was elegant with a light blue zipper piercing right through the middle, cutting it in half. Since it was such a cold day she also put on her white scarf and hat, both knitted. Made sure her bangs covered her left eye well. She sighed and smiled, closed her locker and locked it. As she turned around she grabbed her backpack leaned against someone else's locker, and swung it on her shoulder fast. Then she walked out of the room and into the many yellow boring little halls until she found herself going through the main entree. She stood there and looked around herself, the light outside was bright, but the ground was dry. People passed her, gave her one glance seemingly wondering why she stayed put. Ruby was not to be seen, and for a while Sapphire just stood there. After some time she sat down and put her hands in her pocket. Noted to herself to bring gloves in her backpack from now on. Her backpack was light blue , but ordinary and bland with no brands on it. Just because her parents could afford branded clothing, purses and backpacks and hats or whatever, doesn't mean Sapphire cared too much about fashion. As long as she felt she looked nice. Much like her mother.

A big group of tired teens walked through the parking lot, and ended their journey on the bus stop on the very end of it. The parking lot and its few cars grew empty, the bus arrived. Sapphire looked at it. Normally she would be right there, entering the bus. She would go home, do her homework, play her guitar and watch youtube videos. Then she would go to sleep, and it would all repeat the next day, unless it was weekend the next day, which it was. Sapphire smiled. But not today. She stared at the tiny humans pushing themselves as close to the bus doors as possible, like title ants from far away. Or maybe mice. Most of the time she wished to be part of the herd, today was one of those rare moments she would prefer to not be. She would much rather stand outside looking in, preferably with Ruby to hang out with.

She saw Ruby coming in the distance, just emerging from the school building's outer corner. On its side was a hill, and a road going upwards. On the very top of the hill was GC2, come to think of it she had never seen GC2 before. Ruby had her backpack and bag on, dryer hair but otherwise she looked exactly the same as before. She waved, Sapphire stood up and waved back. It took her around five seconds to reach the stairs where Sapphire still stood, when she did Sapphire walked down the stairs and placed herself right in front of Ruby.

"Hi." She said, smiled and looked down.

"Hello." Ruby responded and smiled back, staring her right in the eyes. Sapphire had never been this close to Ruby before, and with such bright light outside she saw every shadow across Ruby's face. Much like herself, Ruby's skin was smooth. Light from the sky reflected in her eyes and almost made them glow in orange. Sapphire looked at her, then looked down, then she looked at her again, then she looked down. It was too much each time, she was just too shy. Ruby giggled, seemed to notice.

"Are you ok?" She asked. Sapphire nodded.

"I'm just not used to.." Her breath became shacky, she was so nervous. ".. It's been a while since I just.. Hung out. I haven't even thought about what we should do. Have you?" She asked. Ruby smiled.

"Pff no. I have no idea." She answered and started looking around. The both of them were standing just barely underneath the flat roof holding the school building and the gymnasium together. Asphalt made its way under the roof where people could walk, and continued upwards. It ended on top of a very small hill, and sand took its place. Four big threes had been clean shaven and placed in the sand, with one huge one on top of the four, two on each side crossing each other. Two sets of swings hung from the trunk, they both stared at it.

"I guess we could swing?" She asked, Sapphire smiled to her and nodded. She thought to herself that it might be a little childish. But found herself to not care about that too much.

They slowly started walking through the opening between the two buildings. They walked right under the roof, Ruby looked up as they did.

"So how's your day been?" Ruby asked, still with her eyes set on the ceiling. Sapphire looked over at her, still pretty nervous.

"Good, what about you?" Ruby looked at her without moving her head, birds sung in the distance.

"Good." She answered. Sapphire laughed silently to herself.

"So you haven't beat up someone today that is?" She blurred out, immediately regretting her words in case it would be take rudely. But Ruby just laughed as she lowered her head to a normal position.

"Nope, not today. I don't hit people unless they are rude to me. Soo." She said while a giggle still lingered in her throat.

"I will try not to be rude then." Sapphire said and smiled. A panic flew into Ruby's eyes.

"Nono I didn't mean like that!" She yelled out as she walked a few steps away from Sapphire, moved in front of her, and turned around towards her. She shock her hands while she spoke again.

"I don't mean if you weren't .. I mean.. those idiots are rude on purpose. If you ever were rude.." Sapphire lifted her hand in front of Ruby, felt herself growing serious.

"I get it, it's ok." She said stiffly, Ruby's shoulders sank into a more relaxed position.

"You don't have many friends either do you?" Sapphire asked. Ruby let her hands fall down to her sides. She shock her head, looked down. Then she turned around fast and started walking a bit faster, Sapphire followed suit.

"What do you do then? At school?" Sapphire yelled out, she felt her shyness melt off her. Ruby carried herself so well it almost made Sapphire jealous. She wanted to be like that too. Just say whatever she wanted, whenever. And for the first time in a long time, apart from in the company of her closest family, did she feel it would not hurt to try.

"You mean since I got no friends?" Ruby yelled out without looking back. This was clearly a topic she didn't like to talk about. But then Ruby stopped, and Sapphire stopped a meter away from her. Ruby shrugged.

"I just walk around I guess, not really doing anything." She said while still having her back turned against Ruby. Sapphire fought the urge to grab her shoulder and stroke it.

"What about you?" She continued. Sapphire put her arms around herself, thought about what she wanted Ruby to know about her.

"I usually hide somewhere and read a book." She answered. Ruby turned towards her slightly, moved her head so Sapphire saw her profile. Her eyes were wide open, after a few seconds she started smiling a bit. Behind her were the swings, they had almost reached the top.

"Yeah? What do you read?" Ruby said, turned her entire body around. She started walking backwards, Sapphire looked down at her legs and smiled as she started walking.

"Well." Sapphire said. She walked up closer to Ruby, pretended she was going to step on her bakwars walking feet. Ruby giggled.

"Noo." She said. Sapphire started giggling as well.

"I like fantasy." Sapphire continued. Ruby who was focusing on her feet looked up at Sapphire.

"Oh me too. What authors do you like?" She asked, Sapphire smiled. felt herself growing lighter. So did her feet.

"Neil Gaiman, Tolken, Rolling, Siri Pettersen, John Ajvide Lindqvist." She answered fast from to top of her head. Ruby almost stumbled backwards, grabbed Sapphire's shoulder. Electricity sparked from where her hand touched, made Sapphire's stomach twist and turn in a good way. She smiled.

"Me too! Well, the last one ain't exactly fantasy, more like horror am I right?" Ruby stated loudly while she got herself on her feet and let go of Sapphire's shoulder.

"Right, and music?" Ruby smiled widely with excitement, she turned around and ran towards the swings. She threw her bag and backpack off and to the ground. She jumped on one of the swings and stood on it up right. She held on one of the chains, her other arm stretching out towards the sea in the distance.

"Rolling stones, AC/DC, Madrugada, Pink Floyd!" She yelled out. Sapphire took off her backpack and carefully placed it leaning against one of the threes sitting in the sand. She walked calmly to the other swing and sat down as she smiled and looked at Ruby.

"And you?" Ruby asked and let her feet fail as she slung herself down on the swing. She reminded Sapphire of Ola for one second, blissfully unaware, and just all around happy. She was so taken in the moment, it made Sapphire blush.

"I like Enya, Enigma, Agnes Obel, Beatles and Ane Brun." She answered a tad bit slow. Ruby looked at her while leaning forward.

"I only know of Beatles sorry." She said.

"It's ok. Most haven't I guess. I do play guitar though." Sapphire commented. Ruby stretched out her back so it became straight. Her face lit up.

"Really!? Cool. Do you sing as well?" She asked, Sapphire nodded.

"Are you any good?" She added. Sapphire shrugged.

"I do take singing lessons though." She said. Ruby stood up from her swing, lifted her leg and moved over on the other side. She then sat down again, this time with her legs far apart on each side of the swing. The chain went right in the middle, cutting her body in half. She moved her head to the side.

"Oh right, Marius' music school? That time at the bus stop.." She yelled out, Sapphire nodded.

"Where had you been that day?" Sapphire asked. Ruby grinned, lifted her right arm and flexed it. She touched the muscle on her upper arm. Sapphire stared at it, felt herself blushing.

"I took boxing classes. It was the first time actually." She patted on her arm, then let it fall down again. It then moved towards the chain in the middle and her broad strong hand clinched to it.

"I honestly can't say I am any good at it though, i just started." She said and laughed, Sapphire giggled silently with her. Then, silence grew. And they just stared at each other before Sapphire looked down at her dangling feet.

"Was that man in the car your father?" She asked. She didn't look up when she heard Ruby was about to answer. She was sure Ruby would see her blush if she did.

"No. I live with him and his wife, they're my foster parents. "

"Oh. What happened?" Sapphire asked and looked up. Ruby sat in the swing with her legs hanging on each side. The tip of both of her shoes reached the ground, and she moved one of them against the ground, making her move from side to side on the swing. It squeaked. She looked down, her eyes were empty.

"My mom.. She wasn't really a good mom." She said in a tender voice, so small it was almost hard to hear. Sapphire regretted she had asked, it seemed she had opened up something Ruby was hiding behind her energetic spirit.

"Sorry that I asked. " Sapphire said quickly. Ruby blinked twice, looked up at Sapphire and smiled weakly.

"It's OK, it's all in the past. I have a better life here, 'cause shit won't get good if you ain't got no family. They're a good start." Sapphire wiggled her foot and started moving her upper body slowly back and forth. The swing she sat on started moving. She looked at Ruby, who had a serious focused look, then she looked down at her feet again and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. " She commented. "I live with my parents and little brother. Can't say I know exactly what you are talking about." She said and looked up at Ruby and smiled stiffly.

"Sucks to have no friends though." She said. Ruby nodded and asked:

"Yeah.. How old is your brother?"

"He's 9."

"Aww, annoying?" Ruby asked, Sapphire laughed, said:

"You have no idea, but he's a good kid. Do you have any siblings?" Ruby shock her head, moved her body from side to side even more. She was beginning to gain some speed now. She smiled at Sapphire and widened her eyes. Sapphire laughed.

"I like your laugh." Ruby blurred out.

"Thanks."

Loud noises suddenly came from Sapphire's backpack, she stood up quickly. Unzipped the smallest pocket on the very top of the backpack. She took out her smartphone with a light blue case with clouds on it. She swiped on the screen and pushed the phone against her ear. For a split second she had looked at the screen and read that it was her dad calling.

"Hi." She said, looked over at Ruby and smiled weakly. She felt remembered.

"Hi! Would you mind to cut up some carrots and put them in a pan and fill it with water? Your mom is running late again and I got no time. I am on my way home right now." He asked in a hurry.

"I'm not at home. I am still at school." Sapphire answered quickly.

"What? Why? Is everything ok?"

"Yes yes I'm fine. I am hanging out with this girl, Ruby." Sapphire turned around, whispered: "I think we're friends."

"That's great honey! Do you want to stay there or do you want me to get you?" He asked. Sapphire looked over at Ruby who stared at her questionably. She thought long and hard. She did want to stay with Ruby, she didn't want to stay outside, it was cold. If she stayed, and they went inside, they would have to go to where Ruby lived, which she assumed was not far from here. She didn't want to meet anyone new today, fearing it might get her all worked up. Like it always did. But she did want to stay with Ruby. Sapphire sighed.

"How about you just pick me up?" She finally answered.

"OK, be on the parking lot then."

"Yes OK bye."

"Bye." She hung up, looked over at Ruby again.

"You're leaving already?" She asked, Sapphire nodded.

"Yeah sorry. But listen. I can add you on facebook and we can talk?" Ruby stepped awkwardly out of the swing like a crab walking sideways. It made Sapphire giggle for a moment.

"Yeah! Just add me, Ruby Bello." She replied when she had gotten herself on her legs again. Sapphire opened the facebook app on her phone and searched for 'Ruby Bello', found her immediately and added her as a friend.

"Bello? Italian?" Ruby laughed.

"More like a really strange name in Africa." She replied. Sapphire bent over her backpack still lying in the sand, put her phone back into its little pocket and lifted the backpack up. She put it on. When she looked up again Ruby stood there ready with her bag and backpack on, holding onto the handles of her backpack with both of her hands. She looked eager, like a boy scout before going into the woods. Sapphire gave her a tiny smile, then she stated walking, Ruby found Sapphire's side right away.

"So what's your last name?" She asked enthusiastically.

"It's Ingebriksen. Boring I know." Sapphire answered and rolled her eye.

"Yeah it is not as cool as mine!" Ruby said while she jumped, she laughed and pointed at herself. She was so youthful, but not stupid. Sapphire laughed and looked down, thought to herself that Ruby was even better than she had imagined. Flawed, but better.

They passed the opening between the two buildings again and stepped underneath the roof, Arild's BMV came driving from the other side of the parking lot.

"Wow, is that your dad?" Ruby said with wide eyes. Sapphire nodded.

"So you guys are rich?" She asked again. Sapphire smiled.

"Well, no, but we aren't poor." She answered, Ruby snorted.

"I bet that's what all rich people say." She said and laughed. The car parked in front of them.

"Well I see you around." Ruby attempted to end it with, but Sapphire stepped closer to her as Ruby stepped back.

"Do you need a ride?" She asked. Ruby smiled widely.

"No it's ok. I don't live far from here." She said and moved one of her arms, Sapphire assumed in the direction she intended to walk.

"Well. Bye then." Sapphire said almost as a whisper.

"Bye." Ruby replied a bit louder. Then Sapphire turned around and opened the door, walked into the car. It was dark, Arild looked over at her.

"I thought you said your friend was a girl." He asked.

"I did. She's a tomboy." Sapphire answered monotonously.

"Oh." He replied, turned his head and looked out the window. Ruby walked passed the car and went further down the parking lot, towards the bus stop. Arild looked over at Sapphire again.

"Do you think she's a lesbian?" He asked. Sapphire shrugged.

"I don't know. It's not like I got to ask, I mean we just met." She said, Arild turned towards Ruby again, walking in the distance.

"I think she is." He stated. Sapphire sighed and smiled to herself.

"Yeah." She said. Then she looked over at her dad.

"Aren't you gonna drive?" Arild awoke from his thoughts.

"Yes, right 's been a long day at work." He pressed on the gas and turned the car around, soon they were out of there. They drove passed Ruby, Sapphire followed her with her eye. Sighed again. Ruby was so amazing, she thought. Arild looked over at her, but didn't say anything.

* * *

Ruby exited the training studio, this time without being in a hurry. With her jacket on, and her sweat dried off, and the bag hanging from her shoulder she walked off smiling. She had many things to be angry about still. At school people were still mean, though she had resisted beating the living crap put of them. That way, she made less trouble for herself at home. Mona and Hank deserved a break every once in a while, and she had started doing more push-ups at home as well. Just to get the steam out. It had only been her second time boxing today. But it had gone so well, and she had gotten better already, she felt. She still didn't talk to anyone, even though she was in a better mood. Most people were crap and she knew it. Why bother when it would end badly anyway?

She had made sure to be at the bus stop at the same time as a week ago, hoping to meet Sapphire there. Joy struck her when she saw the girl sit on the bus stop. They hadn't met since last week after school, but they had chatted on facebook everyday. Mostly about the little boring things in life. Sapphire had linked all her favorite songs to Ruby on youtube. They were good, not quite her style of course, but good still. Ruby held her breath as she came closer to the bus stop. Sapphire had noticed her and followed her with her gaze.

"Hello." She said and stood up.

"Hi." For a moment they stood right in front of each other, Sapphire looked unsure, leaned a bit forward, leaned back again. Then she lifted her hand, Ruby smiled at her and shock it.

"Nice to see you too." She said half jokingly, making a high pitch voice. Sapphire let out a tight laugh, she sat herself stiffly down. Ruby sat herself down beside her way more relaxed, this time a tad bit closer. Her bag rested on the bench right beside her butt. On the side Sapphire did not sit.

"So how was the singing lesson?" Ruby asked. This time they sat on opposite sides, and all Ruby saw of Sapphire's face was her bangs covering her left eye and her nose and lips. The light outside was dim, and it would have been a beautiful afternoon if Ruby had taken a look around. But she only looked at Sapphire.

"It went well. And your boxing class thingy?" She replied.

"It was great, I can already feel my muscles growing!" Ruby yelled out, stretching out her arms and legs. Sapphire turned her entire head towards her and looked at her with her big blue eye. Her gaze moved slowly from her legs and up her body to her face and then her hair. Ruby stared at her face in silence as this happened. Ruby was wearing her work out tights, and of course her dark red jacket. When Sapphire was done checking her out she looked away and smiled. Ruby's face heated up, especially in her cheeks.

"So where exactly do you live? Not in garden city?" Ruby asked, breaking the tender silence.

"I live on the other side of town, in Milkweed." She answered. Ruby didn't even know exactly where that was. But she pretended to know, it was not close to Garden city that's for damn sure.

"Oh wow, well why do you go to Garden City school then?" She asked and sat herself up in a more proper position.

"I switched." Sapphire replied.

"Well duh, but why?" Ruby asked again. Sapphire lowered her head, didn't seem to want to answer. It couldn't have been long ago since she switched, otherwise Ruby would have gone to the same school as her a year ago. The girl had no social skills what so ever, not that Ruby was any better. And she didn't like people and they didn't like her. Ruby sighed.

"You weren't bullied over there were you?" Ruby asked wide eyed. Sapphire lowered her head even more and nodded so weakly one could almost mistake it for something else.

"God damn it, now why would anyone want to bully you!?" Ruby asked and closed the fist on her right hand. Sapphire shrugged.

"I get it with me, but you?" Ruby said and mumbled some more for a few moments, shutting her fist even harder. Then she sighed, let her anger out like a flame dimming in a fog. She knew if she hadn't gone boxing today she would not be able to do that right was a first. Sapphire had turned her head towards her, and stared at her with one big eye.

"Are you being bullied too?" She asked quietly. Ruby leaned towards her.

"Has it stopped? In Garden City?" Sapphire leaned away from her, her shoulders grew tense.

"Not completely. Are you?" Asked Sapphire. Ruby sighed.

"Yes but.." Ruby said, she grabbed Sapphire's hand. It was ice cold, Ruby's hands were always warm in the palms, no matter what weather. She held Sapphire's hand with both of hers. Sapphire stared at her, with a wide eye and a hint of a smile over her big soft lips.

"Listen, if I ever see anyone bully you, I will defend you, ya hear?" Ruby said with clear crisp words.

"Really?" Sapphire asked with a timid voice, her breath was shaky.

"Yes of course, I do it for myself all the time! It's the least I could do." Ruby said while pretending to laugh a bit, trying to joke off the tension. "Like, it's amazing those bastards haven't gone to the hospital yet." She rolled her eyes and smiled, Sapphire even smiled a little but was still upset. Ruby forced herself to focus again.

"Fuck them all, ya know." She said, shaking her hands with Sapphire's hand still between them like a burger in its bread. Her hand was so tiny and soft. She shock them again when she said:  
"FUCK them." Sapphire's eye became blanker than usual, and more light reflected from it. She was about to cry. Ruby let go of her hand, opened her arms and leaned forward. And as her head leaned in against Sapphire's hair she felt her body heating up. But not with anger, and her stomach became filled with butterflies. She heard Sapphire's breath right beside her ear, felt her arms carefully wrapping themselves around Ruby's back. She smiled to herself, stroked Sapphire's back with both of her hands. They sat like that for a few moments, Ruby closed her eyes.

"Thank you." Sapphire whispered.

"You're welcome." Ruby whispered in return. Their embrace ended and Sapphire wiped away a tear with her tiny index finger. She had such cute little hands, they smiled to one another.

A car drove into the bus stop. It was Hank. Ruby sighed with relief, thought she was lucky he had not come only moments earlier. Ruby stood up from her seat and grabbed her bag. She had almost forgotten it was there.

"Bye." She said calmly. Much to her own surprise. She was never calm.

"Bye." Sapphire responded. Then Ruby turned around and quickly stepped into the car. She looked towards Sapphire and waved to her and she waved back, then Ruby turned around and threw the bag in the back seat. Hank looked at her and smiled again, Ruby felt the blush increasing in her cheeks.

"Let's go!" Ruby said while panicking.

"OK, gees." He hit the gas and started driving, It was completely dark in the car, and the light outside was dim enough for it to be hard to see. Ruby squinted.

"You got yourself a friend?" He asked rather carefully, well aware how easily Ruby could explode.

"Yeah. I think I really like her." She responded. Hank chuckled.

"So I've noticed." He commented.

"And you don't mind?" Ruby asked nervously. She looked over at him, he smiled.

"Of course not. Me and Mona knew the first time we set eyes on you. We con't care." Ruby grinned from ear to ear, she clasped her hands together and leaned towards Hank, far from reaching him.

"Oh thank you! I was kinda worried." She yelled out, let her hands fall to her lap and loosened up her grip on her very own hands.

"Sometimes I wish i knew you from the start." Hank smiled and looked at her.

"Better late than never right?" He said, Ruby nodded. Completely absorbing all the happiness she felt, it had been a while since she felt this good.

"Right!"

* * *

Sapphire sat on the stairs outside Garden City school. She wore a thicker light blue jacket, her white hat and scarf. And a longer skirt than usual, with woolen stockings underneath. She sat with her legs close together, with her blue backpack beside her. And she looked up. The sky was gray, and thick snowflakes danced down from the sky. Some even danced together. Sapphire smiled to herself, forgetting about how a few boys in her class had teased her. They had danced around, covered their one eyes and told her to get back to Rome. She had left, found a small empty room and cried her eyeball out. She had been sitting there in that room for hours, with the phone in her hand she had wondered if she should call home. If she did, she would not see Ruby after school as planned. If she did, she wouldn't have to face her classmates again today. Sapphire had cried again then, more carefully and controlled. Tired of always having limitations, was she always going to live like this? She had thought. Ruby was so brave, if she could do it so could Sapphire. So she had gone out, without calling anyone. Wiped her tears in the bathroom, taken a few breaths before entering the classroom. And she had gone in, with 25 sets of eyes staring at her as she did. She had sat down by her desk, and she had stayed there until recess.

She forgot all that, she forgot she was scared. Forgot she was proud. The snowflakes became alive and they turned into Ruby and herself, dancing in the snow. Side by side, she made a rhythm inside her head. Soft drums, soft like the hug Ruby gave her. For a person so angry and hard and big, Ruby sure was soft. Sapphire sighed tenderly as heat grew in her body. She looked to her side, and saw Ruby walking towards her in the distance. She wore a dark red bubble jacket, and black loose pants. Light white snow covered the parking lot and its cars like a powder. Ruby wore a hood over her head, apparently it had snowed a bit before Sapphire got out. Because the top of Ruby's hood and her shoulders also had snow on them. As Ruby came closer, she shock her head, shaking the snow off herself and put down her hood. Sapphire smiled at her, and Ruby smiled back once she knew she was being watched. Sapphire stood up, stepped down the stairs and walked up towards her. Ruby opened her arms and Sapphire dared to do what she did not dare last time they met. She hugged her, for two whole seconds and they greeted one another with: Hi's and Hello's.

Sapphire smiled widely, exposing her teeth. Ruby smiled back, a bit more relaxed. Sapphire turned around and grabbed her backpack, put it on and walked straight for the swings. She turned around and saw Ruby following her. She smiled, stopped. Ruby caught up with her stared at her with a grin over her mouth.

"You're in a good mood." She commented. Sapphire smiled.

"Yes, aren't you?" She asked. Ruby looked away.

"Yeah." She said as her smile faded. They continued walking. Sapphire looked at her as her eyes were set on the ground, deep in through. Their steps made grey footprints in the snow.

"Has something happened?" Sapphire asked. Ruby shrugged, put her hands in her pocket. They had reached the swings on top of the small hill. The swings were covered in snow as well.

"Did someone hurt you?" She asked, tried again. Ruby sighed.

"Yeah well. I got into a fight." She mumbled and looked away so her face came out of sight. Sapphire took a step closer to her. Two meters were between them now.

"Some guys called me the usual stuff, ya know, trans, boy, dyke. So I tried to beat them up, and they beat me up. It's my fault. I just. I can't help myself I am just so angry all the time." Ruby walked towards the swings, put her one hand out of her pocket and started wiping snow off the swing. She did it with swift hand movements, with her knees bent and she didn't stop talking.

"I did hit a black eye one one of the guys I think. But I got a really bad nosebleed and my hands.." She stopped wiping and lifted her hand and looked at it. Her hand had gotten pink from the cold exposure, she put it in the pocket. Sapphire stepped forward.

"Can I see?" She asked. Ruby turned around, gave her both of her hands. They had scrapings all over them, dried blood, broken skin.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, Ruby shock her head.

"Not anymore." She answered. Sapphire lifted her hands and put them in Ruby's. Ruby smiled and closed her hands together. One of them were hot and the other cold from the snow wiping.

"You said it yourself. Fuck them all." Sapphire whispered, feeling the heat grow in her body. Every touch she and Ruby exchanged were electric. Ruby smiled, then she grew angry, she let go og Sapphire's hands and turned around. She shot her arms away from herself, with her hands in the air she yelled out:

"And then I got sent to the damn principal, still with a fucking nosebleed. And she said my stuck up foster mom would lose the right to have me if the fights didn't stop!" She turned around, sat herself down on the swing so hard the tire shock.

"I don't mind the fights all that much. But that principal. I mean, what if she tells the truth?" She said, still with anger, but now with a hint of sorrow. Sapphire turned towards her and walked all the way up to Ruby's stretched out feet on the ground.

"What if she complains to the child services and I get taken away?" She said and her voice cracked. She lowered her head so much so that Sapphire only saw her headband and curls. Sapphire reached out and touched one of her hands holding the chain. Stroked it with her fingers.

"Hey. It was probably something she said to make you stop. To scare you." She said, Ruby didn't look up. Sapphire bent her knees and sat down, still standing on her feet. Her skirt fell to the snow. She looked at Ruby's broken face, thinking she had been wrong to think Ruby was the bravest person ever. She was brave, but she was also scared. Just like herself.

"If anything it was highly inappropriate for a teacher let alone a principal to say such a thing to a student." Sapphire said softly. Still holding Ruby's hand. Ruby looked up, a silent tear ran down her right cheek.

"You really think so?" She asked. Sapphire nodded firmly. She moved her hand from Ruby's and instead reached out for her right cheek. She carefully put her hand on Ruby's soft cold skin and stroked away the tear with her thumb. Ruby closed her eyes and leaned her hand to the right, against her hand. Sapphire's head was far below Ruby's, and she could see a few remains of dried blood on Ruby's nose. Inside one of her nostrils. She sighed.

"I think you're really brave you know." Sapphire said with a smile. Ruby opened her eyes and smiled, gazed at her fondly. Sapphire could even notice a faint blush growing in her cheeks.

"Thanks." She responded. Then she looked down, giggled weakly to herself. She moved her head and lifted her hands to her face. Sapphire withdrew her hand.

"I can't believe you said that after watching me cry like a baby." She stated and sniffed. Sapphire stood up, looked down at Ruby and said monotonously:

"Crying isn't for the weak, it's for the strong." She walked over the the other swing and was about to start wiping the snow off it when Ruby spoke, interrupted the movement.

"Hey.. We can share this one.. If you want?" Sapphire looked over at her and smiled.

"OK." She responded, and walked over to Ruby again. Ruby stepped inward on the horizontal tire, pit her legs inside the hole as she placed her butt on the set of rubber behind her. Then she lifted her legs to make room. Sapphire let go of her backpack, Ruby's lack of a backpack came into thought for a second as she moved forward and lifted her skirt a bit. Revealing her grey woolen stockings. She stepped inside the swing and sat down, her legs barely not touching the snow covered ground. She grabbed both of the chains in her sides. Ruby put her warm hands over hers, squeezed hard.

"Thank you." She whispered. Sapphire smiled.

"Any time." She responded. Ruby sighed as she stared at her, then she looked down and started swing her body carefully back and forth. Sapphire did the same. The thrill of their legs touching made butterflies in her stomach. It was a big swing, made for bigger children. Their knees had to be mixed up in-between each other to make room. One of Sapphire's knees went right in-between Ruby's legs. And Sapphire's skirt made it a little bit harder for her to spread her legs at all. Sapphire lowered her hat a bit to make sure the bangs stayed in its place as the swing started blowing her hair back. Suddenly she felt exposed.

But Ruby who occasionally stared at her, didn't even seem to notice. She just moved back and forth and smiled to herself blissfully unaware. Living in the moment. Sapphire sighed as she smiled. Just a second ago this girl was crying, she thought to herself. Now it is as if it never happened.

Sapphire tried to relax as the speed increased. She bent her head back and closed her eyes. Ruby's hands were still over hers, their knees were still touching. She smiled to herself as well, and she opened her eyes. Ruby was staring at her.

"You don't think this is too childish do you?" Sapphire asked. Ruby smiled.

"Maybe, but I don't care." She answered, once Sapphire started giggling Ruby laughed along with her and said:

"GOD Sapphire set your priorities straight!" She tried to sound like a stereotypical moody teenager, and it worked. Sapphire laughed out loud as the speed from the swing made her stomach tingle. Ruby laughed too.

They swung higher and higher, as they did the both of them screamed on the top of each side. Especially when the chain made the swing jump on their way down. It made Sapphire's stomach flutter, and her head spin with joy. She lived in the moment, just like Ruby.

* * *

Ruby and Sapphire walked side by side on the road. Sapphire with her backpack on, Ruby without one. It still snowed, but ever so lightly. The sky had opened up a bit and rays of sunlight shone through in majestic stripes over the clouds around them. Sapphire stared up at it as they walked.

"Wanna go to the kiosk?" Ruby asked. Sapphire turned towards her.

"I don't have any money." She answered.

"It's OK. I'll buy." Ruby said. Sapphire sighed, said:

"O-OK." She looked down, felt the fear coming from her core like frost spiking up her spine. She sighed again.

"Hey, everything alright?" Ruby asked, she reached out and stroked Sapphire's back a few times. Then she pulled back, as if she expected Sapphire to move away. But Sapphire smiled, walked closer to her.

"I'm fine." She lied and smiled stiffly. "I just hope nobody is standing outside the shop."

"You mean from your school?" Ruby asked, Sapphire nodded gently, looked down.

"Don't you worry. If anything happens I'll defend you." Ruby said right away. She didn't seem to think twice about it. Sapphire smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." She said. They walked a few moments in silence, before Sapphire turned towards her again after looking up at the sky.

"Where's your backpack? You didn't bring it to school?" She asked. Ruby looked behind herself for a moment then she started laughing. It made Sapphire relax a bit and smile too.

"We quit school early so I just took it home." She explained and put her hands in her pockets.

"I did forget it once though." She said and smiled, Sapphire laughed.

"Really? I have never done that." She stated and laughed some more.

"Yeah, I forget lots of things! I leave stuff everywhere. That's because I can't focus on things for a long time so I.." Ruby stared at a car that drove passed them. Then she looked at Sapphire again, this time with a questioning look.

"Where was I?" She asked, Sapphire burst out laughing. Ruby smiled, said:

"Heeey, I didn't even try to be funny." Sapphire chocked her laugh.

"You're always funny." She said. Ruby turned towards her and lifted both of her arms.

"Good!" She said with an evil smirk and she swept Sapphire off her feet and lifted her up. Sapphire screamed and laughed as Ruby started spinning her around.

"Don't drop me!" Sapphire put her arms around Ruby's neck and shoulders and held her rightly, scared of falling she looked down. Ruby had such a strong upper body it made Sapphire blush hard. Ruby laughed aswell, spun around for about five seconds before she slowed down. The both of them still laughed when she stopped spinning. She put Sapphire down and the both of them slowly laughed and looked at each other with big smiles.

"Am I heavy?" Sapphire asked, Ruby shock her head.

"Nope. I could carry you home if I wanted to." She said and laughed.

"You live close by then?" Sapphire asked and let go og Ruby's shoulders. Ruby nodded and lifted her arm, pointed downward, towards the dakr blue sea.

"On the very bottom, not too far from the sea actually." She answered.

"How nice." Sapphire commented. Ruby nodded. "Where is the kiosk?" She continued while her smile died out.

"On the other side of.." Ruby tipp toed a few steps forward, pointed with her entire body like a small child. "Thooooose buildings." She said. The buildings, a few homes in the end of the road going horizontal. Sapphire could almost see it, she guessed. A stroke of fear climbed up her spine. Not again, she thought.

Ruby started walking and she slowly followed, this time much more tense. Sapphire held her own hands and stared at the ground for a few moments. Ruby walked in front of her, then she stopped and waited. When Sapphire had reached her Ruby walked in the same slow tempo as Sapphire did. Nobody ever waited for her. Sapphire smiled, looked up at her. She could tell Ruby noticed something was wrong, but neither of them spoke until the turn was made.

When they had walked the dreadful turn, the kiosk appeared maybe twenty meters away from them. And it was crowded with teens on the outside, seemed to be where they chilled. Sapphire could recognize a few classmates, not those who were mean to her today. But a few of those who watched. Fear struck her again as she swallowed. She felt the tears wanting to come out, so she stopped on the spot. She felt embarrassed when Ruby stopped too.

"Hey.." She walked up to Sapphire, bent her back a little and looked her in the eye.

"Fuck them, remember?" She said and smiled. " I'll protect you." She continued, Sapphire looked up at her, smiled stiffly. If it was one thing she loved coming out of Ruby's mouth, it was those words.' So she sighed, straightened her back and sighed again.

"OK.." She whispered to herself. She walked towards the small white building. It had only one floor, big windows with pictures of foods on it, and a big sign over its automatic door saying: Ica. Outside just a few cars were parked. Around seven teenagers hung around on the outside, some leaned against the wall in silence, others stood up right and talked to one another. They were all dressed differently, she recognized two of them. Knew only three by name. Name she never spoke unless she had to. Sapphire swallowed as she got closer, and the spikes in her spine came in waves. It made her hands sweat and her face to grow focused. She knew that when this happened, she looked cold. She did after all try to hide her state of mind with all her might. The teens were about to look up at her and Ruby as they came into their view of sight, and when they did they would stare at them. They would stare at Sapphire, look through her bangs and see her motionless eye. They would look into her open exposed eye, and they would see her flaws and shortcomings. They would see her emotions and they would hate it. Spit in her face and laugh. Like some had done in the past.

So she turned around, it only took her a second but she knew that today she had had enough of this. Like an insect changing direction, quick and without flaw. She felt herself walking fast, and Ruby shouted behind her. She looked down at the ground, at her steps as they walked over her older footsteps. She breathed heavily through her nose. And only when she had passed the turn and the shop was out of sight did she stop. Instead she walked back and forth on the road until Ruby showed up behind her, it did not take long.

"Sapphire?.." Ruby had asked, only the shadow of her showed through Sapphire's frantic walking.

"I can't OK? I just can't." She looked over at Ruby as she walked back and forth, the girl was tilting her head. She stared at her and did not understand. Sapphire turned around.

"Don't look at me like that.. I have social anxiety. It's really hard OK?" Sapphire stood still now, still out of breath she held her arms stretched out and close to her body. Her hands were closed, hard. She felt so embarrassed, and angry at herself, and still she was really scared. Her pupil changed directions every second she had her eye open, as all those emotions ran through her body like the northern lights waving and changing in the sky. As if it had to be somewhere, as if it could not be here. Not for people to see.

A single touch on her shoulder broke her off her own insanity, and she jumped a bit. She turned around fast and looked at Ruby who soon withdrew her hand. She looked worried.

"I'm sorry, I didn't.. I.." She said, Sapphire looked right through her raw emotions. Knew she hadn't stared because she wanted to tease, only because she didn't understand. Her fearful emotions ran down from her body like water. She had longed for Ruby to notice her for so long, and here she was, caring, right in front of her. She could just kiss Ruby right now, but she still had no idea how Ruby would respond to that. So instead, she opened her arms and leaned forward so she could be hugged. And it was received with the compassion she most needed.

Ruby had pushed her against herself and pressed her back still with her backpack on towards her with her bare hands. Sapphire placed her head in-between her shoulder and neck, and felt her tight curls tingle on the side of her face. Her hands still shock as she placed them on Ruby's back and kept them there. They stood like that for a long time, breathed into each other's necks. Holding one another close. Sapphire wished for it to never end. But at some point they did release, look at each other with both sadness and delight. And then they looked away and started walking.

* * *

They stood outside Ruby's door. The sea and its comforting sounds were right behind it, a few houses were behind it as well. A small dark red house with black roof and white window frames. A car was parked outside the house, Sapphire recognized it from the few times Ruby had been picked up at the bus stop. If they walked inside, she would at least have to meet the small balled man Ruby called Hank. Maybe even the foster mother. Sapphire sighed, and Ruby noticed.

"OK look, I can go in and ask them not to greet you. How about that?" Ruby suggested, Sapphire looked over at her. Gave her a faint smile, so Ruby really wanted her to come with her inside?

"Yeah okay, but tell them I am really shy or something." She said, looked down as Ruby started walking,

"I'll be right back!" She yelled out, Sapphire nodded in silence. Watched as Ruby stepped into the main door and closed it carefully behind her. Sapphire walked up the few steps to the door, made of cement. She sat herself down where the roof started above her, so she didn't sit on any snow. She took off her backpack and placed it on her side. She sighed, looked straight ahead at the house across the street. All the houses were smaller, and the cars outside were cheaper. But she had seen a few small apartment buildings close to the city which seemed to be much cheaper than this. People had enough to get by here, and not much more, like Sapphire and her family. Maybe she was a little rich?

Ruby opened the door behind her, Sapphire jumped and stood up on the spot.

"I've talked to them, come on in!" She said and smiled. Sapphire nodded, grabbed her backpack and held it with both of her hands. Held it close to her chest and with tense shoulders she walked in carefully. She looked around herself while Ruby closed the door behind her. She hadn't even undressed herself. Sapphire put her backpack down and took off her jacket. Ruby took off her jacket and boots and what not rather aggressively, while Sapphire took them off carefully and soundlessly. She hung them up on the pegs stuck to the wall. The hall was tight with a dark green walls and lots of shoes, jackets and scarfs everywhere. Kind of messy. But cosy.

Ruby opened the door going into the hallway, Sapphire grabbed her backpack and walked through it. Ruby closed the door behind her and touched her back carefully with one hand. Sapphire's stomach fluttered.

"Up here." Ruby whispered and pointed towards a staircase barley visible around the corner. Sapphire nodded and smiled carefully, walked with Ruby to the stairs. There was a door going into what seemed like the kitchen, and another one to the living room where a TV was turned on. She figured the foster parents were in there, tension grew in her. What if they greeted her anyway?

Ruby urged her to go in front of her as they were about to embark on the stairs. The walls were of dark plain wood, blank and warm. The room even smelled of coffee from the kitchen, and the walls were covered in pictures of children and weddings, all with light skinned people. And at the very top of the hallway of the stairs was a picture of Ruby, smiling her pretty witty smile. It looked like those usual school pictures one had to take every year, Sapphire hated those.

They came into a small dark red hallway with three wooden doors going on each directions.

"That room is a storage room, and that one is the bathroom." Ruby said and pointed at the two doors deepest in the small hallway. She pointed straight ahead.

"And here's my bedroom." Sapphire walked in first, still pretty unsure. But now that they were on the second floor she could relax a bit more. Her bedroom walls were painted dark reddish purple. The room was nicely tucked in a dark brown pitched ceiling. The curtains were bluish purple. Quite beautiful colors she admitted to herself. Posters of beaches, forests and of some band scattered the walls here and there. A string of dim warm light bulbs hung over the window frame, the carpet was clean. Clothes were squeezed into the room's corners and under the desk standing on the other side of the room. Her bed and window were on the side of the door. Sapphire smiled.

"Did you choose the colors yourself?" She asked as Ruby closed the door behind her, quickly moving to make her own bed.

"Yup! Neat huh?" She answered.

"It's beautiful." Sapphire commented. She placed her backpack close to the bed and sat down. Ruby already sat in it, with black sheets and covers. She looked exited.

"And if you want you can eat dinner here, I can just come up with our food and we can eat together." Ruby said, Sapphire nodded nervously and couldn't manage to keep eye contact. She sat up tight with her legs close together. Her blue skirt completely covering her legs, apart from her two feet which poked out on the bottom. She wore white socks. She looked down at them, moved her toes a bit.

"You don't think I am weird do you? .. For having anxiety?" She asked carefully. Her question was followed by a few seconds of silence before Ruby who was sitting down, let her back fall and laid down in her bed with her legs still bent over the edge. She sighed.

"No, I think you're cool. Before I came here, before I understood I had ADHD I thought I had anxiety. Because sometimes I would get so angry I could just scream and shout and people had to hold me down. And I thought those were panic attacks. So I did some research and I realized it wasn't that at least. I was just a kid but I read that it was all about fear, not anger, like mine were." As she said all of this she had stared blindly at the roof, but when she finished she looked over at Sapphire who was still sitting, and smiled a bit.

Sapphire felt herself finally becoming relaxed, she turned her upper body around, laid herself on her belly and moved her arms up under her head. She looked over at Ruby who laid on her right side. Her body heated up as she whispered:

"I think you're REALLY cool too." She looked at Ruby and smiled as Ruby's facial expression changed. At first she looked surprised, then for a split second confused. Then she smiled, and her grin slowly became more playful. She quicly sat herself up and leaned in over Sapphire and tickled on both sides of her back. Sapphire burst out laughing as she tried to move away, but Ruby was strong and held her down for a few moments and tickled her more. The split second it grew slightly uncomfortable Ruby let go and moved herself to Sapphire's side while she laughed. Sapphire laughed too and rolled her body on its side. Resting her head on her arm. Her bangs moved itself downwards by the laws of gravity, but Sapphire knew her motionless prosthetic eyepiece just barely didn't show. She smiled and blushed.

"You don't seem angry to me." She said. Ruby laughed.

"I have no reason to be angry at you." She responded. Sapphire blushed and moved her head down towards the covers she was laying on. She giggled.

"Good." She said.

"Ruby! Dinner!" The foster father yelled from down stairs. Ruby stood up from the bed in a hurry and said:

"I'll be right back." Sapphire sat up and nodded as Ruby left the room. It was empty now, and quiet. Sapphire smiled to herself, sighed. Her breath was warm, just like the rest of her body right now. Ruby was so kind, so hot. It was almost unbearable. She seemed street smart. Knew how to handle things, Sapphire knew she was too dependent on anyone to make it through anything. Like with her father and mother. Who knew what kind of shit Ruby had gone through?

Sounds came from the door and Sapphire turned her head, Ruby walked in with two full dinner plates on both of her hand. For a second there she looked like a waitress.

"I hope you like Lasange." She said, Sapphire stood up and grabbed one of the plates. Smelled the food as it damped on her chin. It smelled of pasta and meat and tomato sauce, she smiled.

"I like it." She put the plate on Ruby's desk, and Ruby did the same. Then she disappeared out the door again mumbling something about water and forks. It didn't take long before she was back with knives and forks and two big cups of water.

"You can just sit on that chair, I'll get another one." She suggested as she put the cups and silver wear. Sapphire nodded, saw Ruby go through the door again as she sat herself down and took a sip from the cup. She moved the chair to the side to make room and moved the plates accordingly. Made sure Ruby would sit on her right so she could look at her.

Ruby came in with a small chair in both of her hands, she placed it beside Sapphire and smiled as she sat down. She looked down at her desk and seemed surprised, then she looked at Sapphire again and smiled.

"So you're a neat person huh?" She asked, Sapphire nodded, lifted the fork in silence and took a bite of the lasange. The second she put the pasta plates and meat in her mouth she noticed it tasted more than what she was used to. Was it really home made? Just the sauce tasted so much better than it did at home.

"Is this home made?" She asked again. Ruby chewed for a few moment before she swallowed and answered:

"Yeah, good right?" Sapphire widened her eye as she nodded.

"Yes, very. Home made food at home is rare, actually." She commented.

"Really? Why? Hank and Mona always makes home made food, no matter what." Ruby said.

"Well, I guess they do work a lot, both of them. You know." Sapphire answered, re-calling the many conversations she and Ruby had had over facebook every day. They ate in silence for a bit before Ruby spoke again.

"I actually eat a bit too much, they make such good food. It's just too good." She said and laughed, leaned back and patted her belly. Ruby was slightly chubby, Sapphire didn't mind.

"But then again I probably could cut down on the candy." She said as she put more lasange in her mouth. She ate with big bites, as if she was busy. Sapphire ate slowly with tiny bites, she wondered if Ruby had ever starved. Since she was in such a hurry.

"Did your mother feed you well?" She asked without really thinking. Ruby seemed to choke on the food in her mouth and she coughed.

"What?" She said still with the food in her mouth.

"I just, I was just wondering. I'm sorry." Sapphire whispered as she looked away. She kept asking Ruby about these things sometimes, crossing the line. Ruby was just so interesting, she just had to know more about her.

"No it's OK... She didn't, actually." Ruby replied, she had stopped eating and looked down at her food with a bank facial expression.

"I have this memory of my mom being gone for days at the time, sometimes. I remember taking cold hot dogs out of the fridge and eating them on the floor." She said with a low voice, completely focused, yet oblivious to her surroundings. Then she looked up at Sapphire, who stared right at her. Sapphire covered her mouth with her hand, felt so sorry for her.

"That's awful, I'm sorry I asked." Said Sapphire like a faint whisper. Ruby heard her, gave her a tiny smile.

"I haven't talked to anyone about this stuff actually." She said.

"Why not?" Sapphire asked. Ruby shrugged. Then the both of them ate the rest of their food in silence. All the while Sapphire thought to herself she had been luckier than she had thought she was.

They sat down in Ruby's bed again.

"Do you want me to put on some music or something?" Ruby asked, she dried off her palms on her thighs, seemed nervous.

"Sure." Sapphire responded. Ruby stood up, opened her laptop which had been standing neatly in the corner of the desk through out their meal. As she waited for the computer to turn itself on she looked over at Sapphire. She was standing up, bent over the desk and computer. Her butt stuck out, Sapphire felt herself blush as she stared at it. She looked away.

"What do you want me to put on?" Ruby asked.

"I donno, Madrugada maybe?" She said. She and Ruby had exchanged their favorite songs through facebook and youtube, and Sapphire had quite liked the latest songs by Madrugada. To her knowledge the band had been broken up for a few years now.

"Really? Great!" Ruby replied enthusiastically. From the bed Sapphire could see Ruby opening google chrome and going on youtube. She typed, and found a song with a light blue album cover, Sapphire recognized it. It was the one she liked, so she smiled. Before Ruby started it, she plugged the computer to two small speakers. Then she started the video, which was just an album track with its cover, and turned the sound slightly down so they could still be able to strike a conversation.

Ruby sat down beside her with a big smile on her face.

"What was this album called again?" Sapphire asked.

"Industrial Silence." Ruby answered. They nodded their heads to the music for a few moments as the guitar and trumps filled the room. It made Sapphire's soul soar, it seemed like. Then Ruby grabbed her hand which was placed on her right knee, held it up.

"I don't really know much about you Sapphire." She said. Then she looked down at her hands.

"Wow, let's measure hands." She said wide eyed, completely losing focus. Sapphire laughed, lifted the hand Ruby held. They pressed their palms against each other. Ruby could bend the top joints of all her fingers over Sapphire's stretched out hand.

"You have such cute small hands." She said. Sapphire giggled.

"Thank you." She responded. Ruby pressed her fingers down in-between Sapphire's twinning their hands together. Sapphire did the same, she felt herself blush again. But this time she kept steady eye contact with Ruby. She had such warm eyes that made Sapphire's knees weak. It would at least if she was not sitting.

Ruby pressed their hands down to her lap still keeping eye contact.

"What's your story Sapphire? I hope it is happier than mine." Ruby asked.

"Well.." Sapphire said and sighed. She leaned down to her side, Ruby followed. This was it, she thought to herself. Her mom, her eye, her life. She got the feeling whatever she said would stay with Ruby. It felt as if they had known each other much longer, yet at the same time, not at all. It was confusing, exiting, it made her heart beat fast.

"It all started with my mother." Sapphire said. "Right now she's like a really good mom and all. But when I was born she was a drug addict. And I was in a foster home, until I was three years old, I got cancer in my eye and it was surgically removed.." Sapphire whispered the last few words, sighed, and observed Ruby's reaction.

"I knew it." Ruby whispered.

"How? Who told you?" Panic flew into her body. If someone had told her, what have they said about her? Maybe that she was gross?

"I could tell by the way you moved your head that something was missing in there." Ruby lifted her other hand that did not still hold onto Sapphire's hand. She touched the bangs carefully with her index finger.

"May I?" She asked. Sapphire nodded carefully. Light rock music and a dark male voice occupied the soundscape of the room as Ruby removed the bangs from her face. Sapphire bit her bottom lip as she became more nervous.

"Wow it looks just like your normal eye." Ruby said, staring right at the side of her face she could not see with.

"You don't think I am gross or anything?" She asked.

"Pff, no way. I think you are beautiful." Ruby responded with a calm gentle gaze. Sapphire lit up and smiled.

"Really?" She asked with a high pitch voice, joyful. It almost cracked. Ruby nodded.

"Yeah." Sapphire could not hold it in anymore, she moved forward and pushed herself against Ruby's body. Placing her head tightly against Ruby's neck.

"Wooowow." Ruby said jokingly as she hugged Sapphire back and held her there, tightly.

"So.. What happened next?" She asked. The sound of her voice went through her neck, and had a deep sense to it. Sapphire could also hear Ruby's heartbeat, which beat kinda fast. And feel her breathing, her neck and chest rising. It took a few seconds for Sapphire to find a single thought in this bliss to answer.

"I well. Um. I don't remember that I had cancer. And my mom went to this weird christian rehab camp thingy, and now she is like super christian. But she is very kind and all. And up until I was ten maybe I had a pretty normal childhood. My mom soon met my step-dad Arild, I've told you about him."

"Mhm."

"But then I started to be excluded, and people stole my things and teased me for my missing eye. They stole things like my boots, jackets, underwear after P.E. I also got beat up a lot. " Ruby stroked her back.

"Really? Poor Sapphire." Sapphire giggled for a bit.

"Yeah. " She said. "But unlike you I couldn't.. I wasn't strong like you."

"You seem pretty strong to me." Ruby commented and stroked her back again. Sapphire felt her body heating up even more than usual. Was this really happening? She thought. Why did she open herself up like this?

"Thank you. And then.. I started teen school and it only got worse, so I asked to switch schools. When I got transferred to Garden City school nobody knew of my eye or anything. But I started becoming really afraid of people, and especially of school. It took a while for me to get help but yeah. It was really hard. And then rumor spread about my eye and.." Sapphire let out a really big sigh.

Ruby held her tighter, a slower song came on.

"This shit is out of our control ya know. Ain't much we can do about it. Just survive. And you seem pretty strong to me, I donno what I would do if I was scared of people. But you are, yet, here we are." Ruby whispered into her ear, Sapphire giggled gently for a few moments.

"Why haven't I met you before?" Then Ruby started giggling too.

"Yeah, I've been in this town for years already damn it!" She yelled out, the both of them started laughing together. Then Sapphire finally leaned back, Ruby's grip loosened. They looked at each other, their faces were not far apart.

"What about you? What is your story?" Ruby's smile faded.

"Yeah well. It is not a particularly happy one either." She said and sighed.

"It's OK. This time I can hold you." Sapphire suggested and smiled, Ruby lit up.

"OK." She said. She then leaned forward and they switched up their arms, so Sapphire was the one holding Ruby. They moved their bodies so Ruby's back became exposed. Sapphire felt Ruby's warm face press up against her neck, her slim lips gently brush against her skin. Sapphire blushed as she moved her hands over Ruby's back, stroking it back and forth.

"OK let's see.. I never really knew my dad. He was from Norway, my mom, well my mom's mom was from Africa. So that's why I'm so.. " Ruby said, Sapphire interrupted her.

"Oh right, my dad was from mexico. I think he and my mom dated for just a few months."

"Oh right, yeah I was wondering about that." Ruby said. "Anyway, and my mom was always depressed. I kinda had to take care of myself, and I never felt safe. I didn't really have friends since I was so angry all the time. She often went out for days at the time, she drank, and stuff.. I was always cold and hungry and sad, and angry."

"Are you still angry with her?" Sapphire asked gently.

"Yeah, but ain't nothing I can do about it now. It did take many years for me to even learn to read, and I still struggle with everything related to school. When I was ten I broke down to a teacher and after that I was taken away. I was moved to all sorts of homes, public, private, families, they all hated me. They couldn't handle my rage. I was even angrier back then than I am now. I didn't think anyone would ever want to have me until I came to Hank and Mona. They're the best parents I have ever had. I think i have finally found a home, that's why I was so scared. I can't go through all that shit again." Ruby pressed her face to Sapphire's neck hard. Sapphire stroked her back gently.

"That sounds awful. Strange to think my mom could have been like that too I guess. But she got her act together. It must be harder than it looks." Sapphire commented.

"Yeah, lucky." Ruby said and sniffed. Sapphire stroked her back, said:

"Hey.. You are always so up beat. I would never guess you have had such a hard time."

"A coping mechanism I guess." Ruby responded.

"I think you just live in the moment. In the now. I can almost never do that, I am always so scared of what people will do to me in the future, if not mere seconds in the future. I always worry, and you just.. Live in the moment like there is no tomorrow. I admire that about you." Sapphire said softly, not quite understanding how she dared to say such things. But Ruby didn't seem to mind. She lifted herself so their eyes met, stared at her with soft focused eyes. Sapphire continued as she lifted her hand and touched Ruby's dark tight curls. they were much harder than she imagined, as if she had sprayed a layer of hair spray over it. But she probably hadn't.

"And you express yourself so well. If you are happy, sad or angry or anything, you use your whole body. Like it is your instrument or something. I always keep my emotions closed in, scared someone will use them against me. You just don't care. It's so beautiful to see. I can never be like that." She said as she stroked Ruby's hot cheek. Ruby smiled, leaned closer and whispered:

"Wow Sapphire. I had no idea you had such a keen eye." Sapphire burst out laughing, Ruby laughed too.

"We had a moment here!" She yelled out.

"I'm sorry I couldn't resist!" They laughed together for a little while until it burned itself out. They were still lying in Ruby's bed, close to one another but not touching each other anymore. Ruby moved her body to the side and leaned her head on her arm.

"You're doing it right now ya know." She said.

"Doing what?" Sapphire asked.

"You're living in the moment. Just like me." Ruby added.

"Oh. Maybe I should hang out with you more often then." Sapphire asked and smiled. Ruby leaned in on her, touched her shoulder.

"Maybe you should." Ruby said while she smiled. Sapphire body and face heated up as their faces came closer to one another. Sapphire had just closed her eyes when a loud tones interrupted and made them lean backwards again. it was her cellphone, Sapphire sighed. She reached for her backpack as Ruby stood up and went to her computer, turned down the volume. Sapphire got her cellphone out of its tiny pocket, looked at it. Mom.

"Hello?"

"Hi sweetie. Are you still at your new friend's house? I have been running really late today and am on my way home. I won't have the energy to pick you up later and Arild have gone off with Ola for a soccer match so if you want to stay longer you would have to take the bus." Sapphire looked at her cellphone, it was almost six o'clock. She knew the buses were more crowded at this time of day. And she had had a really bad day. Up until.. She looked over at Ruby who smiled at her, but with a questioning facial expression. Sapphire could tell she didn't want her to leave. Sapphire sighed.

"Fine, are you close by?" She asked.

"What's the address?" Her mom asked, Sapphire looked at Ruby.

"What's the address?" She whispered.

"Gardenroad 21." Ruby whispered in return.

"Gardenroad 21." Sapphire repeated.

"OK, give me ten minutes. I'll call if I can't find the way. I'll honk when I am there."

"OK bye." Sapphire said, hung up and sighed.

"You're leaving already?" Ruby asked, she grabbed Sapphire's hand.

"Yeah sorry. She couldn't pick me up later, and I would have to take the bus. I just can't do that today." Sapphire said. Ruby tugged at her hand.

"Well I can at least show you out." She said and smiled. Sapphire nodded, put her phone back in its tiny pocket and swung the backpack over her shoulder. Hand in hand they walked out of her bedroom.

A tall slim woman was standing in the wallway with a basket filled with folded clothing. It took Sapphire by surprise and made her stop immediately.

"Oh, hello." The woman said. Sapphire couldn't quite recall what she was called. She had shoulder length thin blond hair and small glasses. She seemed gentle.

"You're going out?" She asked, looked down at their hands still holding.

"No, she's leaving. Her mom was in the neighborhood." Ruby answered while switching between looking at Sapphire and the woman.

"Oh, OK." She said. She tilted her head a little bit. "Hello Sapphire."

"H-Hi." Sapphire responded just loud enough for the woman to hear.

"I just want you to know you are welcome any time you like." The woman continued. Sapphire clung to Ruby's arm. Felt herself getting nervous.

"Thank you." She said, Ruby stared at her and smiled. The woman turned around and walked into one of the doors behind her. She closed it completely.

"I told you she was really nice." Ruby commented, Sapphire nodded. Then they continued walking. Sapphire sighed as they walked down the stairs, still hand in hand. They didn't meet anyone in the hallway on the first floor. They walkes straight to the small hallway leading out to the main door. Ruby closed the door behind them quietly.

"Were you scared?" Ruby whispered, Sapphire nodded, Ruby sighed.

"I'm so sorry you have to feel that way Sapphire." She said. "I wish I could do more." Ruby walked up close to her.

"But you are helping." Sapphire whispered. "You are helping me to live in the moment." Ruby grabbed her shoulders gently. They looked at each other. Sapphire continued:

"I am living right here, right now. With you." Ruby's hot breath blew over her face before they leaned in on each other. Sapphire felt her heart beating fast, her knees go weak and her body heat up again. She closed her eyes and pushed Ruby close to her from behind Ruby's back. Their lips met and from them electricity of hot delight emerged and spread through her entire body. Joy filled her entire being as hot wet lips rubbed gently against her own. Her thoughts faded into a warm blank nothingness while all that remained were Ruby's lips and hands rubbing against her back. Sapphire's stomach became filled with butterflies, and after a few gentle moments with tender kissing Ruby opened her mouth. She gently pressed her slippery tongue against Sapphire's, and for a few moments both of their tongues moved about aimlessly. Until they found their rhythm, their dance, and moved in sync. Ruby took a few steps forward and pushed Sapphire against the clothes hanging on the wall, they sunk into a sea of slippery fabrics until they hit the wall and kissed even faster and harder. Sapphire moved one of her hands up to Ruby's neck, the other rested near her tale bone. Ruby simply rubbed her back gently with both hands, up and down, even with the wall pushing against her hands. Ruby released, the both of them sighed with delight, seemed almost out of breath. She moved her hands away from Sapphire's back and instead let them rest on the side of her hips. They stared at each other for a second, Ruby seemed just as happy as she was. Then she leaned in again, this time with a wide mouth, and kissed her deeply. It almost seemed like she had done it before, but Sapphire thought to herself it was much easier than she first had thought. She made sure to breathe through her nose, her breath grew heavy. Their tongues did not go too far back, they found their rhythms. And for a few moments every here and there they broke it off, and played with the tips of each other's tongues. Ruby released again, looked at her with a focused yet relaxed gaze. She blushed, smiled, and moved her head to the side. Started kissing her neck with her lips and tongue.

"Mmmh.." Sapphire moaned under her long breaths. Even though she liked this a lot, she felt kind of ashamed. What were they doing? She thought. Ruby kissed her up and down her neck, her tongue was playful and wet. Sapphire was about to say she wanted Ruby to kiss her on the lips again when a loud honk came from the outside.

"Ah it's my mom." Interrupted Sapphire.

"What? Nooo.." Ruby whispered. Sapphire pushed her away, looked around herself.

"Shit shit shit, I haven't even gotten dressed." She said. Ruby gave her her jacket and helped her put it on as fast as possible. Sapphire stepped into her shoes without untying them, and took her scarf and hat and backpack in her arms. She stood by the door with her hand on the handle, she stopped. Turned towards Ruby who was ready to say goodbye. She leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"I take it I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yes, most definitely." Sapphire replied and smiled. "I'll call you." She continued. Ruby nodded.

"OK bye." She said. Sapphire opened the door, Ruby held it open and watched her turn around and go down the steps. When Sapphire had reached the ground she turned around and looked up at Ruby and waved. She of course waved back, then she stepped backwards and closed the door. It became silent, Sapphire turned around while she thought: Is this real life? She looked at her mother's car, and her mother, sitting in the car waving. All the way from here she looked tired, Sapphire shock her head slightly to herself and smiled. Oh mother. She thought. It was dark outside, but Nina had the car engine on so the lights inside the car were on.

She walked over to the car, another BMV, a dark red one. She opened the door to the back seat and threw her backpack in. Then she closed the door, walked around the car to the other side and opened the front door to her mother's right. She smiled from ear to ear while doing all of this.

"Someone has a good day." Nina commented and smiled. She had bags under her eyes, she usually didn't have that.

"Yes, I'm just so happy to finally have a friend." She responded, thought about that kiss. She blushed, looked away.

"I thought you said your friend was a girl named Ruby.." Her mother said as she backed out of the driveway.

"Yes I did, and she is." The car started driving forward.

"THAT was Ruby?" Nina asked. Houses passed them by, lit by the headlights.

"Yes? What about it?" Sapphire asked a bit annoyed.

"She looks like a boy." Nina replied. Sapphire sighed, said:

"Yes, so?"

"Nothing, just.. She must be one of those 'butch' lesbians." Her mother stated.

"Probably." Said Sapphire. her mother looked at her with wide eyes for a second before setting eyes on the road again.

"You mean you haven't asked her about it?" She asked.

"No, I don't need to. it doesn't matter." Sapphire lied.

"Yes it does. What if she thinks you're interested in her? When you clearly aren't. You know how those.. Homosexuals are." Sapphire looked at her mother, shocked, she said:

"No I don't."

"Ya know." Her mother said, stretched out her arms while still holding the wheel.

"They are kind of.. Hyper sexual. "

"Really mom, really!? I haven't had a single friend since I was at least eleven years old. And after you take ONE look at her this is what you worry about? Why should it matter how she dresses, who she likes? She is to this date MY ONLY friend. Aren't you happy for me? What the heck is wrong with you?!" Sapphire yelled out, her mom grew silent. And stayed silent for a few minutes. Sapphire crossed her arm and sunk down in her seat. They were near the buss station Sapphire normally passed through after school.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I haven't really known any homosexuals, only met a few here and there. I don't have anything against them I just.. Ya know.. I just." Nina said, stopped herself. Sapphire continued for her.

"You just don't want them near you, do you?" Nina sighed.

"No, I guess not." She said, Sapphire looked away. Tried to fight back the tears. Her own mother? She thought to herself. How could her sexuality make her feel so good with Ruby one moment, and so awful with her mother the next? She imagined a tiny piece of her heart breaking away, and she woved to never get personal with her mother ever again.

The rest of the drive home was silent.


	4. Chapter 4 Communication

Warning: Adult content Mild sexual references. Spoiler for the Pixar movie Wall-E. Triggers: Anxiety, parental neglect.

* * *

Sapphire sat in her bed in her underwear and a T-shirt. Her hair was up in a bundle, and the morning light shone through her bedroom window. She looked at the chair by her desk, on the other side of the room. On it hung the clothes she planned to wear for today. A long light blue skirt, woolen stockings and a white blouse with purple flowers near the collar. It was pretty, she stared at it.

Memories flew through her head of her mother, dolling her up as a child. Telling her she looked so pretty in a dress, telling her that her body was a temple and should only be seen by a few. Telling her she had to present as a proper girl, and wear skirts. Telling her she looked SO pretty with skirts on, they had never talked about it. But maybe it was a religious thing? She knew that Smith's friends kids wore skirts and braids in some parts of the country. And even though her family was nothing like that, heck her stepdad was even a devoted atheist. Sapphire couldn't stop thinking that she had always dressed up for her mother, wore what she was told was pretty. Her mother did too after all, skirts and un-revealing clothing. She used to take pride in it, she was after all her mother's daughter.

The thought of wearing a skirt today somehow made her slightly uncomfortable. Did she even know herself?

So Sapphire got up from her bed, went in her locker and found a pair of pants, she only had a few. She took the one that was the prettiest, the one that did not look like she planned to slack off at home or work out. Which she never did anyway. She took the skirt and placed the pants in its place, folded the skirt carefully and put it in the shelf where all the other twenty something skirts were. She dressed herself fast, as she had spent too much time thinking about this. She walked down the stairs and sat down in their dining room. Nina was as usual on her way out.

"Bye!" She yelled before she slammed their main door shut. Ola wobbled down the stairs in his morning robe, sat himself down by the table and grabbed a slice of bread. He yawned, made Sapphire yawn too. She was pretty tired. Before she went to bed last night she had called Ruby, she had only planned to talk to her a little bit but had ended up talking to her for two hours. They had told each other stories from school and talked more about their families. As if the kiss had never happened. She hadn't told Ruby what her mom had said. When they had finally hung up and Sapphire had gone to bed, she ended up masturbating for quite a while. So she was pretty tired when she awoke early this morning.

Sapphire smiled to herself as she ate her breakfast. A slice of bread with butter and cheese on it, and a glass of milk. Neither of them spoke, and when she was done she left the table in silence. She went up to the bathroom upstairs and put her prosthetic eyepiece in, did her make-up, let her hair down and combed it, brushed her teeth. She smiled to herself in the mirror, to think Ruby thought she was beautiful. Even with her missing eye, she thought. And today Ruby had P.E. After school they will probably go to Ruby's house again. Sapphire sighed and smiled even wider. As she unlocked the bathroom door and went downstairs she thought to herself: This was going to be the best day ever.

* * *

Ruby along with students in her class walked out of the school building, cold wind blew over her face, it was raining. The snow was gone, the roads were wet, raindrops hit the ground around her. A row of five girls walked in front of her, she knew them all by name. They had DC backpacks and long blond hair. With the exception of one, who had brown hair. They laughed occupationally as they walked. Sometimes a few of them stared back at Ruby who as always walked alone, then they whispered to each other, laughed again. Ruby sighed and looked down at her feet. Water drops splashed from the tip of her shoes when her feet moved forward in the air. The kiss she and Sapphire had shared yesterday came to mind, and she smiled to herself. She could have the most crappiest day ever and just meeting Sapphire would turn it all around.

Her thoughts flew away to a place where Sapphire held around her and kissed her. That they met outside her school and threw themselves over each other. After kissing in front of everyone Ruby would flip her middle finger to her classmates and tell them they were wrong. She was not disgusting after all, not to Sapphire. Ruby smiled to herself as she walked, sighed with delight. She shock her head lightly as she thought to herself: Sapphire was so beautiful, SO beautiful.

"Hey!" One of the girls walking in front of her said. Ruby had zoned out completely, and snapped out of it, looked straight forward. The girls had stopped, stared at her.

"Hello." Ruby replied more carefully than normal, smiled even. Still feeling her crush for Sapphire in her body.

"Why are you smiling? You better not be looking at out butts! Dyke!" The girl with brown hair said. Her name was Marlene. Ruby grew angry, walked past them as she yelled:

"You wish!"

"No we don't!" One of the other girls yelled back, seemed rather insulted. Ruby didn't even look back, she just continued walking. This time much faster.

When she walked across the corner to Garden City School her heart jumped. She hoped Sapphire would stand on the stairs waiting for her. But she was not, Ruby sighed. The girl did go to school too after all, Ruby through. It had driven her forward, this wonderful feeling. She had had it in her stomach before she fell asleep last night. It kept her awake, and she stared up at the ceiling for a long time, smiling to herself. Then she had thought of Sapphire naked, and thoughts that used to distress her almost a month ago made her so happy and warm and even more aroused. The taste of Sapphire's lips lingered on hers, and made her imagine Sapphire in all sorts of positions screaming with pleasure. Her body had heated up more than she ever thought it had before, and she had touched herself. Kept going for a long time, thinking it might even come true someday. She had made herself orgasm for the first time. It was a strange mixture of feelings, proud and happy over what she had achieved with her own body. So absolutely absorbed by her strong crush on Sapphire. The moan she had given away when they kissed. Yet, she felt a bit ashamed, not only was she super gay, but she touched herself as well. If anyone saw her she wouldn't know what to do. if Sapphire saw her, it would be so near. It would make her so vulnerable. And it scared her a little bit.

She wasn't scared now, as she walked into the gymnasium. Her body was hot with anticipation, not shame nor fear. it seemed that Sapphire in the flesh made all her problems, anger and shame fade away. Going into her space was a place of freedom she had never felt before. And she looked so much forward to being there again, smelling Sapphire's scent, feeling her hair and skin. As she walked through the halls and felt herself blushing, she was happy nobody could notice if girls were aroused, like they could with boys. Girls walked in front of her, and behind her. Ruby walked alone in the middle, but she didn't feel lonely anymore.

She walked into the girls wardrobe and put down her bag, took off her jacket. A few girls were there already and were well into changing into their training outfits. She went into a thin door beside the sink and mirror in there, pulled her pants down and sat herself down on a small toilet. The room was so small it would even be hard to change clothes in there. Not that she ever did. She peed, dried herself off, she was wetter than usual. She smiled.

Then she flushed, walked out of the bathroom again and back to the place she had put her bag. She opened it and pulled out her work out tights and a black T-shirt. She quickly dragged off her purple sweater and dark red tank-top, put her T-shirt on. She pulled down her pants and sat down. Her black panties showed, she pulled the tights on leg by leg. She was scared someone would look at her legs, they were much bigger than the other girls'. They all had slim long legs, Ruby's where short and broad, muscly. And with a tad more fat on her tights. Her toes and toenails were small and compact. Thankfully, nobody payed much attention to her. They seemed to be busy dressing themselves in a hurry. She had to remind herself that as they all were teenagers, they were probably just as uncomfortable undressing in front of each other as she was with them. The thought calmed her down, she stood up. Put her socks on which she had accidentally dragged off when she stepped out of her pants. They were white and short. She put a pair of white clean sneakers out of her bag, put them on the floor. She sat down on the bench again, untied her shoes and put her feet into them one by one. Then she tied them, stretched out her arms for a bit, yawned. Then she walked out of the wardrobe, as she closed the door behind her, she caught a few girls staring at her. As if she wasn't allowed to be comfortable enough in their pretense to stretch and yawn.

Across the thin hall were two open doors, she walked through them. She entered a big gymnasium, blue floors with stripes of all colors going everywhere. The walls were wooden colored, on one side the walls had climbing walls. The other side had a big stage with dark blue curtains over them to seal it off. Behind the curtains ir also was a removable wall, behind the wall she knew a small room with a CD player was. And a few spinning bikes. They were rarely used though.

The gymnasium was big, so the sounds of teens playing around echoed in the room. Boys played with soccer or chased girls around. Almost all of the students were there already, a group of girls walked into the room from her behind. Ruby sat down on one of the many long short wooden benches placed close to the two remaining empty walls. She sat down quietly and looked around, she wished Sapphire were here. Although she would probably be scared since people were here. The kiss still lingered in her mind. Her thoughts were interrupted by her P.E teacher Torvald, a big muscly bald man in a jogger suit. He arrived into the playful scene, clapped hard twice with his big hairy hands and yelled out:

"Take a seat everyone!" Every single teen stopped whatever they were doing and started going into their places. They respected the man. Ruby did too and stood up. He was kind, and aggressive, and he looked the teens in the eyes when he spoke to them. Not all teachers did that. Everyone sat down in the middle of the floor on their butts in a meditative position. Torvald stood in the middle, leaned his hands on his hips. There were rumors of him being gay, but nobody knew for sure. Ruby quite liked the idea.

"OK everyone, today we are gonna do some warming up, jogging around. Then we are going to play canon ball, then football, and if someone really really doesn't want to do that they can go spinning in the stage room. How about that?" Some of the boys "woo"ed. And someone whispered "Yesss". Ruby didn't catch who. Torvald clapped again, twice, and said:

"Let's get started!" Everyone got up. He blew in his whistle, pointed where he wanted everyone to go, they followed. Most of them actually liked P.E. Only a few emo kids and maybe a few hipsters didn't like it too much, but the rest loved it. It was after all cool to be fit, Ruby liked it too. But didn't like the sports where one had to be picked for a team, she was always last. So to avoid that crappy feeling, she already decided she would go spinning, for the first time in who knows how long. Nobody could pick her last for spinning. She started jogging in a big circle, as if she was part of a big reindeer herd. She looked at Torvald, imagined him in Sami clothes, he would yell out a body part and they would have to press that said body part to the floor and get right up again. He was controlling the herd. Soon Ruby thought, she could get slaughtered.

* * *

Sapphire had been reading in her book during the first recess. This time she read Odinsbarn again, some people had tried to mock her a little bit. But she had a good day, so she felt crappy about it, but not scared to death. She was too taken with the thought of Ruby's lips to let herself go down the slope of despair.

Then class had started and everyone were on their best behavior. Sapphire had done as she was told, done her math quietly. She always needed help with a few little things but didn't ever dare to ask. It was just the continuation of the homework she had done when Ruby had left yesterday. Algebra, one of the few things in math she actually liked.

When the 45 minutes had passed and the teacher had said it was recess, she had gotten up right away. Normally she waited a little bit in the classroom before going outside. Ruby was always last out for some reason, but she didn't want to be nowhere else but on that staircase. So she got up, and left. The classroom was packet with students as usual, not a single person was home sick today. The halls were too, now that recess had started students walked everywhere. Chat and noise came from every open classroom door. The halls were the worst, and she felt her fear creep beneath her skin. But she held it in, sighed deeply and moved on. She went straight to the lockers, unlocked hers. She tried to hurry.

* * *

Ruby was in the showers, normally she would go in last. Normally, all she thought about was how awful she looked. But when P.E had ended, and Torvald had walked into the stage room where she and a couple of other students were and worked out, she couldn't step off her bike soon enough. Could walk into the wardrobe and dress off any slower. The girls watching her seemed to be a mere thought in the back of her mind. Instead of a dominant one. Sapphire took its place.

She dressed off herself fast, took off her beloved headband, put it neatly over her curled up clothes on the bench. She stared straight ahead as naked girls walked in front of and behind her, into the same room. The dreaded showers, still as ugly and blue as ever. Ruby picket the shower in the right corner, put down her liquid soap and shampoo. Some of the girls chatted, exchanged soaps. Ruby snorted, let the hot water soak her hair. Hot streams of water ran down her body, moist damp made the room seem out of focus. Or maybe she didn't see too well? Ruby squinted, sighed, turned around. She grabbed the soap and washed her armpits, inner thighs and again her crotch as fast as she could. Then she turned around, some of the girls were done. Others took their places. One of them looked over at Ruby, stared her down, made a face signalizing she was disgusting, then she looked away. Ruby frowned, squeezed shampoo onto her hand, stroked it over her hair. She turned around against the wall, closed her eyes as she gently massaged her scalp with her fingers. After a while she turned around, the girls had been switched out again. Ruby washed the shampoo out, walked out of the room in silence.

She walked over to her clothes, grabbed the towel folded beside it, wrapped it around herself. The towel was dark blue and not soft at all. Ruby dried her hair first, then she dried her back and chest and arms. Stroke by stroke, she heard every sound made in the room. Every movement from clothing, every mumbled word, every tap from someone's feet. Too many things going on, it was hard to focus. As she dried herself her mind wandered into all the things happening in the room. When she was done drying herself she let the towel hang over her shoulders as she put on her panties and sports-bra again. Tied her headband around her head in a double knot. She found a deodorant in her bag, put it on. Her armpits were slightly hairy, just like her legs. But she didn't have much hair on her body, she got the feeling other girls had just as much. But she wouldn't know, they all shaved, down to the tiniest pubic hair. Ruby didn't shave anything, nobody she cared about would see her naked anyway. She hoped Sapphire would, one day when she was ready.

She dried off her soap and shampoo bottles, wrapped it in the towel and put it in her black bag. She stepped into her sneakers and put on her jacket without bothering to close it. Her heart beat fast, she hoped Sapphire was there already. The girls stared at her as she walked out, she wasn't the first one out but far from last. They seemed surprised, maybe they observed her excitement.

She jogged through the halls, past the now closed gymnasium doors, up a small set of stairs. She walked up to the glass doors going to the outside, saw Sapphire walk though the doors on the other side. She sat down elegantly, all the way from here Ruby could tell she wore pants. She smiled as heat grew in her body.

She pushed herself though the door, the second she did Sapphire lifted her head and stood up. She walked down two small steps and met her close to the single wall sticking out of the gymnasium building. Nothing was behind it, benches were leaned against it.

Ruby opened her arms and Sapphire walked right into them and hugged her tightly. Ruby's heart beat even faster, she smiled as she pressed her face into Sapphire's shoulder and wild loose hair.

"Hellooo." Ruby said with a playful enthusiasm.

"Hi." Sapphire responded more calmly. They released just enough to see each other's faces. Sapphire smiled sweetly, made Ruby smile even wider back at her. Her face heated up.

"Well look who's wearing pants today." Ruby commented.

"I'm a rebel." Sapphire said and smiled. Ruby laughed.

"Yeah really hard core I must say." She said, Sapphire giggled. They hugged again, this time slowly stepping to the side. Towards the empty wall.

"You look hell'a cute." Ruby said into her ear as their hug continued.

"Thank you, you too." Sapphire replied a bit quieter. They released and looked at each other's faces again.

"Really? I JUST showered. Can't say I have the best hair day right now." Ruby said and giggled, Sapphire smiled, lifted both of her hands off Ruby's back and put them over Ruby's hair. Stroked it gently.

"It's cute." She said, Ruby smiled, rolled her eyes. She lifted her hands off Sapphire's back, moved them over her hands, still in her hair. Lifted them down to chest level and held them. Her hands were as always ice cold.

"How are you today?" She asked. Sapphire smiled.

"Good, what about you?" She asked in return. Ruby smiled, replied:

"G-" The door from the gymnasium opened, a few girls from her class walked through it. They stared at Ruby and Sapphire together as they held both of each other's hands still.

"Careful." The brunette said. "She might rub off her gay on you." Marlene, Ruby liked her the least.

"Shut up!" Ruby barked, she looked over st Sapphire who let go of her hands, looked down at her feet. Ruby grabbed one of her hands carefully, whispered:

"Come on." Sapphire let Ruby lead her away behind the wall. The wall on the other side, light blue and with a few unreadable tagged words on it, was completely empty. The asphalt was only on the side where the entrees were, on this side only wet grass was on the ground. They walked together a few meters on the other side of the wall, heard the girls on the other side leave as they mumbled. Ruby turned around, faced Sapphire again.

"Don't listen to them, they're just stupid." She said. Sapphire gave her a weak smile, said:

"I know. You can't rub something on me that is already there." Ruby burst out in a weak laughter, trying not to have someone discover them if other people entered th gymnasium.

"Oh Sapphire, looks like something rubbed off on you. My bad humor." She said, pressed her hands on Sapphire's lower back. Pushed her gently closer. Sapphire didn't seem to mind as she laughed and slipped her hands through under Ruby's arms. Pressed her hands at the exact same spot.

"It sure has." She said, leaned in closer to Ruby's face. She smiled, looked down at her lips with her one beautiful eye, looked up at Ruby's eyes again. Ruby got the hint and blushed, moved even closer. Their lips met again, thrill flew into her body. Immediately they opened their mouths and rubbed their tongues against one another. This time Sapphire took a few steps forward, making Ruby walk backwards. Calmly and gently she pushed her close to the wall and pressed her body as close to Ruby's as possible. Ruby could feel their boobs pressing against one another. She blushed even harder, Stroked Sapphire against the thin fabric covering her back inside the jacket. Sapphire's tongue and hers danced in a hot blur of breaths and sighs. Their soft lips rubbed hard against each other, covering hot wet tongues in an endless loop of movements. They broke the rhythm and let their tonsures roll aimlessly around each other for a bit, it felt really good, Ruby sighed deeply. Sapphire released for a second straight after, smiled at her. Then she leaned in, nibbled at Ruby's lower lip for a few moments before they opened their mouths widely again and kissed deeply. Sapphire moved her arms up to Ruby's head, buried her fingers in the tight hair close to her ears. Her thumbs stroked gently over Ruby's warm cheeks as they continued kissing. Ruby didn't know how much time had passed, nor did she care.

Sapphire released again, still holding onto Ruby's face. Their noses brushed against one another as they both breathed into each other's mouths. Sapphire's breath was shaky for a moment.

"Ruby?" She whispered.

"Yes?" Ruby replied a bit out of breath, just as quietly. She could see Sapphire blink, could almost hear it. She was so beautiful.

"I am coming to you after school right?" She asked still with a whisper. Ruby smiled and nodded. They leaned in again and gave each other a few more soft closed kisses before Sapphire moved back and released completely. Ruby fought the urge to lean in and kiss her again, she knew she was already late.

"I'll meet you here then, half past three?" Sapphire continued. Ruby nodded. They walked side by side to the spot right on front of the stairs they always stood. They looked at each other for a second before they leaned in and Ruby gave her two long pecks on the lips before she moved away, yelled:

"Bye!" As she walked backwards, Sapphire smiled and waved. Ruby turned around, walked a few steps before she looked back. Sapphire stood on the top of the stairs and looked at her. Ruby waved, Sapphire waved back again. This time Ruby knew for sure why Sapphire stopped and looked at her as she walked away. It was because she liked her! For real! Ruby grinned with excitement and joy. This is really happening, she thought. This wasn't just a one time thing like she had feared in the back of her head. They really liked each other. What a day this would become!

* * *

Ruby jogged down the hill from her school, gravity was on her side, made it easier. She still became out of breath after five minutes or so. She thought to herself that she had to run more in order to keep up with boxing. She didn't think much after that, she just jogged.

When she arrived at Garden City school's corner, she stopped running. She stood there for a few moments, out of breath. She smiled, breathed deeply. Dried off a few drops of sweat from her forehead with her bare warm hands. Then she walked around the corner calmly, as if her chest wasn't bursting with joy. It was like Christmas, only almost every day. Sapphire sat there on the top of the small staircase as expected. She sat in her white pants and long dark blue jacket covering the top of her legs as a miniskirt. She wore her white scarf and white knitted hat. She didn't seem to notice anyone was coming.

"Hey! Sapphire!" Ruby yelled when she was around ten meters away. Sapphire jumped a bit, looked at her and smiled. She stood up, walked down the stairs and met Ruby with a "Hello" and another tight hug. Sapphire leaned her head over Ruby's shoulder and Ruby over Sapphire's. She closed her eyes and sighed, she felt herself blushing. As always the parking lot was empty. but a bus stood parked on the very bottom of the parking lot with the engine on. Ruby was turned against it, and heard it driving off. They released. She leaned against Sapphire and gave her a small peck on the lips. Sapphire grabbed her hand as they kissed, and when they quickly released she moved backwards, tugged at Ruby's hand. She smiled playfully, Ruby smiled at her.

Soon they walked side by side, hand in hand, rather slowly. Ruby knew she walked quickly if she didn't think about how fast or slow she walked. Sapphire seemed to be just the opposite. At least when she was upset. She didn't seem slow today.

"Are you having a good day?" She asked, looked over at Sapphire.

"Yes. Very." She answered and smiled, looked over at her. Ruby walked on her right side, on the side her eye was. It was hard to think nothing was under the bangs on her other side. Cancer. She wondered when she was bullied, what she used to hear. Even to this day.

"Nobody has been mean to you or anything?" Ruby asked. Sapphire shrugged, looked down.

"A little bit I guess. But when I have a good day I don't get a panic attack over it. Ya know.." She answered, Ruby nodded.

"Yeah, so.. What do you call you then?" She asked, couldn't help herself. Maybe not the happiest of topics. Sapphire lowered her head even more, loosened her grip on Ruby's hand.

"They call me.. Gross and weird. And.." She sighed deeply. "Cyclops." She said. Ruby tightened the grip on her hand.

"Sorry I asked." Ruby said. Sapphire shock her head,

"No it's OK." She looked up at her, smiled weakly. "If I can ask you anything, you can too." Ruby smiled and nodded, said:

"Yeah, and besides. That cyclops should be flattered people compare you to it." Sapphire burst out in a light laughter. She looked at Ruby surprised for a second, then she laughed even more.

"Oh Ruby you always know what to say." She said and her laughter died out. Ruby pulled her closer to herself, let go of her hand and wrapped it around Sapphire's shoulder.

"I bet eye-patches are gonna become in, just because everyone wants to be as beautiful as you!" She burst out, Sapphire laughed again, covered her mouth with the tip of her naked fingers. Steam damped from her mouth.

"I don't even wear an eye-patch!" She said.

"I know but what else can they do!? To pretend they got only one eye? A bangs is too common! THEY wanna stand out, be cool and different. Just like you!" Ruby screamed, Sapphire continued laughing. Ruby lifted her hand, opened it towards the sky as they were still walking.

"Sapphire the trendsetter! Eye patches will be sold out! Where ever they sell them." She said, looked over at Sapphire who was still laughing. She stopped for a moment.

"Don't look at me!" She said. "I don't know where they sell eye-patches!" Ruby closed her hand except her index finger, she pointed at nothing in the sky.

"The internet!" She said dramatically. "They are sold out on the internet. It's THAT popular. And all the kid's parents be like: 'What is up with those god damn eye-patches!?'" Sapphire laughed harder again. Ruby moved her hand close to herself again.

"Mom you just don't understand! GAWD!" She yelled out acting like a moody teenager. Sapphire let go of Ruby and bent down while she laughed hysterically. Ruby looked down at her and smiled proudly. Just a few minutes ago she was so sad, now she was laughing so hard. Ruby sighed and smiled as Sapphire started to calm down. She straightened her back, a tear ran down her eye. She dried it off, smiled.

"Maybe I should call you Laughy Saffy from now on?" Ruby asked, pulling Sapphire close with both hands. Sapphire giggled.

"That's the silliest thing I have ever heard." She commented.

"Too bad." Said Ruby, Sapphire started giggling again, but was interrupted by Ruby pressing her lips against hers. Carefully with closed mouths, they gave each other soft dry kisses as cold wind from the sea blew over their faces from the side. Some of Sapphire's hair waved in the wind and got caught in-between their lips. They released quickly, Ruby spit comically. Sapphire laughed,

"Sorry." She said as she giggled. Ruby laughed too, grabbed Sapphire's hand.

"It's OK. We'll just have to cut it off before we kiss again!" Ruby said as she pulled at Sapphire's hand. They started walking again.

"What!?" Sapphire yelled out.

"I'm joking!" Ruby said and laughed. "Your hair is beautiful, don't worry."

* * *

They stood outside her house again. Sapphire still held her hand, when they had stopped in front of the stairs leading up to the front door she held it even tighter. Ruby looked over at her, Sapphire's face was expressionless. She stared at the door intensely.

"We can do the same thing today too, if you want." Ruby said. Sapphire looked at her for a second, then she looked back at the door. She sighed, said:

"No it's OK. I am having a good day, better to do it today rather than later when I'm having a bad day." Ruby nodded, started walking. Dragged Sapphire carefully along with her by the hand. Sapphire sighed, and walked with small steps. They entered the house and Sapphire closed the door behind herself. They were once again in the small hall. She let go of Sapphire and started undressing. She took off her backpack and slung it gently against the fall so it fell to the floor. She took of her jacket in one singular motion, hung it on the wall. Sapphire took off her scarf and hat, then she carefully with many slow movements took off her jacket. She put her hat and scarf in the hood of her dark blue robe like jacket. Hung it carefully on the wall, over Ruby's jacket. They both grabbed their backpacks, put them on and walked inside the longer hallway.

Ruby walked in first, she walked straight ahead into the living room. Sapphire followed right behind her. The TV was on and Hank sat in the couch, looking down at a Samsung tablet in his lap. He looked up when they entered the room.

"Oh hey." He said. He stood up right away.

"Hank, this is Sapphire." Ruby said. She looked over at her as Sapphire leaned forward and stretched her arm out. Hank grabbed it, their hands shock, he nodded.

"Hank, hi, nice to meet you." He said with a smile.

"Hi. Sapphire. Thanks for having me." Sapphire said with a low voice, she only kept eye contact with him for a mere second before looking down. Hank sat down, placed the tablet back on his lap.

"What's for dinner?" Ruby asked, Hank shrugged, said:

"Ask Mona." Ruby turned around, Sapphire did too right away. They walked into the kitchen from the other side. The door was already open. It smelled of some kind of soup.

When they entered, they saw Mona standing over the oven, she and Hank shared their cooking duties, today she was the one making the food. She looked over at them, smiled broadly.

"Oh hey it's you!" She said. She dried her hands on her tights, she wore bright red pants and a white shirt. She stretched out her arm and Sapphire took the hint, took it and shock it.

"Welcome back. You're staying for dinner?" Mona asked. Sapphire looked over at Ruby for a second, who nodded.

"Apparently I am." She said and smiled. "Thank you for having me." She let go of Mona's hand. Mona smiled and waved with her newly freed hand.

"Oh you are very welcome! Ruby your friend is so polite!" Mona yelled out. Sapphire stepped back, but giggled weakly. It only showed, no sound came from her mouth.

"Yeah I know." Ruby said and giggled slightly too.

"She is way more polite than you!" Mona said and laughed briefly but hard. Ruby laughed too.

"Heey!" She responded. Mona laughed even more.

"It's OK." She said, looked over at Sapphire who held in her tiny laugh. "She's still in training."

"Heeeey!" Ruby burst out, acted offended. Sapphire let out a weak giggle as she covered her mouth. Ruby noticed and calmed down a bit. Sapphire's laugh always made her a bit moist inside.

"Well, we have some homework to do. See you later." She said, prevented the awkward silence about to brew up from their timid laughter.

"Oh OK." Mona said and leaned over the stove. It was clear she made cauliflower soup. One of her favorites. She grabbed Sapphire's arm, dragged her along as they entered the long hallway again. They walked straight ahead and up the stairs as Ruby let go of her arm, walked up first.

They walked into her bedroom and Sapphire once again closed the door behind her. They both took off their backpacks.

"Do you really want us to do our homework?" She asked timidly from behind, Ruby turned around, smiled.

"Naah I just said that so you didn't have to spent too much time with them, in case you were scared. You weren't were you?" She asked. Sapphire shock her head, walked over to the bed just a few meters to the side.

"I told you, I am having a good day. I'm still shy though." She said as she sat down, she sighed. Ruby sat down beside her and grabbed one of her hands, held it in both of hers.

"Don't worry, your shyness is really cute." She stated, Sapphire looked up. Ruby sat on her left side but she turned her head enough to the side to let her right eye show. She smiled.

"Really? I was scared I seemed uninterested or something." She said, Ruby giggled.

"I highly doubt that. You're at least way more polite than me!" She responded, Sapphire leaned in on her and laughed.

"Yeah." She said. Their lips met once more, and Ruby opened her mouth right away. Let hers and Sapphire's slippery tongues massage against one another. She sighed and her hot breath blew into Sapphire's mouth as she tiled her head. Sapphire pressed both of her hands against Ruby's shoulders and gently pushed her backwards. Ruby let it happen, and before she knew it Sapphire's upper body was over hers, pressing against her breathing chest. Ruby moved her hands over Sapphire's back as they kissed intensely for a few minutes. This hot beating space they shared consumed her train of thought completely. She blushed hard and for the first time she felt hot shivers going up her spine, it felt so good she moaned weakly. The second she did, she tried to swallow it, but Sapphire noticed and released. Looked at her and smiled.

"Ruby." She whispered, leaned in and kissed her again. This time with a few closed kisses before moving to her right cheek. her lips were warm and wet, she moved them closer to Ruby's ear and licked her earlobe while also tasting it with her lips. Ruby sighed with delight. Sapphire let her still kissing lips brush gently down from her ear and to her neck. The girl opened her mouth and licked and tasted her neck hard. It happened again, the bolts in her spine, the hot wetness from her neck, she moaned gently again. This time a little bit less ashamed.

"Have you done this before Sapphire?" She whispered between her ever increasing hot breaths. In-between Sapphire's kisses she responded:

"No. I just. Do. What you. Do."

"Really? You're pretty good." Ruby whispered. Sapphire stopped kissing her neck, lifted her head to the same level as Ruby's. She smiled, her lips were slightly redder than usual, and a strong blush lingered in her cheeks.

"Thanks, so are you." She said and leaned in again and kissed Ruby open mouthed. They only got to kiss for a few more seconds before it knocked on the door. Sapphire threw herself off Ruby and sat up as the door opened and Mona stood in the doorway. She seemed to notice what was happening and jumped.

"Sorry. I just. Dinner's ready." Ruby gave her a slightly angry look, and Mona gave her an apologetic gaze in return. The both of them sat up, Sapphire with her head lowered. She didn't say a word, walking out of the room before Ruby. As Ruby passed Mona who still stood in the doorway, she leaned in and whispered:

"Yell in the hallway next time will ya?"

"Sorry." Mona responded also with a whisper. When Ruby passed her she could hear Mona closing the door behind them. They all walked silently down the stairs and Sapphire sat herself by the small dining table in the kitchen without a single sound. Ruby took the empty chair beside her and sat herself loosely down. Sapphire still looked down and her shoulders were tense. Ruby giggled a bit, still feeling the heat in her body. She lifted her arm and stroked Sapphire's back gently a few times. She looked over at her and gave her a small embarrassed smile.

"Did something happen?" Hank asked. Mona leaned in, pressed her lips against his ear and whispered a few un-distinguishable words. His eyes widened for a second, he leaned back and said:

"Seems like you two are VERY good friends then!" He yelled out and laughed. Mona giggled.

"Yeah just gals being pals." She said, Ruby hit the table hard with her palm.

"Can we eat now!?" She yelled out in distress and embarrassment. Hank and Mona laughed while Sapphire lowered her head, but a faint smile still lingered over her lips. Ruby felt herself blushing while she said:

"Guests first." As she looked over at Sapphire. They got eye contact for a solid second before Sapphire lifted her arms and stretched them out. She reached for the food and helped herself. Moved her bowl close to the pan and poured soup from the ladle. She moved her bowl back and placed it silently in front of herself again, lifted her spoon in her hand and filled it with the white yellow-ish thick soup. As Ruby helped herself she could see from the corner of her eye that Sapphire put the spoon in her mouth and smiled.

"This is really good." She said more enthusiastically than usual.

"Oh thank you. It's my very own recipe." Mona said and smiled.

"I know right?" Ruby commented. "This one is one of my favorites." She smiled widely at Sapphire who grinned back. They kept steady eye contact for quite a few seconds before Sapphire looked over at Mona and Hank, then she looked down.

* * *

After Sapphire gladly had helped herself with two more plates of soup, she and Ruby alike, and they all had spoken about the weather and school, had Ruby and Sapphire left the dinner table. Sapphire had spoken, but shortly and far apart. She didn't seem scared at least, which calmed Ruby down quite a bit. Her foster parents were after all really nice people.

They walked up to her room in silence. The blush on Ruby's cheek had faded, but as they walked into her room again together, hot blood pumped to her face. Sapphire carefully sat down on the bed, dried her palms on her thighs. Her white pants pressed tightly over her thighs, butt and the rest of her legs. It was so sexy.

She sighed, and Ruby's thoughts drifted back to reality. She became worried, and sat herself down on Sapphire's right side. Came to realize it was the side she preferred. Sapphire looked down at her feet.

"Is everything OK? Were you scared?" Ruby asked carefully. Sapphire lifted her head, smiled and shock it carefully.

"No, it's just.." She said, grabbed Ruby's hand which rested on the bed. Squeezed it.

"Your foster parents are so accepting of you, well, us." She said, Ruby bent her upper body slightly forward, tiled her head.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't they be?" She asked carefully. Sapphire shrugged.

"Aren't yours?" She asked again. A short tight laugh came from Sapphire's mouth, then she leaned back and let her back fall against the neatly made bed.

"They don't even know that about me." She said and put her arms around herself. She stared up at the ceiling and sighed again. Ruby leaned back as well, let her back carefully lay itself on the soft covers as she stared at Sapphire. Sadness was written all over her face.

"Why not?" Ruby asked. Sapphire looked at her for a moment, then she stared right up at the ceiling again. She still didn't let go of herself.

"Why do you think? My mom is super christian." She said rather laud. She turned around, laid on her side. She was silent for a few moments before Ruby felt the urge to crawl closer to her. And so she did, she used her arms and legs and moved a few centimeters to the side, pushed the front of her body against Sapphire's back. Wrapped her right arm around her and held her right. Sapphire's hair was loose and laid elegantly above her head. Ruby's face peeled through her neck and shoulder from behind. Once she had placed her head in place did Sapphire start talking again.

"Yesterday.. My mom saw you in the door from the car. She said I had to watch out for you since you were a homosexual. Not that it's not true. You do seem to be interested in me." Sapphire said, looked over at Ruby from behind. Ruby could tell her eye was becoming more blank. She was about to cry again. She nodded to Sapphire, confirming that what she stated was the truth. Sapphire continued:

"But she doesn't know that I like you too. She doesn't know we have a thing going on. She just thinks we are platonic friends and that you, as a homosexual are hyper sexual. That you walk around wanting to seduce every singe girl that comes up close to you. Is that what she is going to think about me when I tell her?" Her voice cracked. Ruby held her even tighter.

"Oh Sapphire. I am sure she didn't.." Ruby said, but was brutally interrupted by Sapphire.

"She said she had never known any homosexuals personally, but admitted she didn't want them close to her. I am literary in her inner family circle, I am as close as can be. She's not gonna like it at all, I know it. Maybe she'll hate me?" Sapphire's voice started cracking a lot and Ruby could feel her body shacking slightly. She started kissing her neck as Sapphire continued talking now with a lump in her throat.

"Maybe she'll throw me out? Where am I gonna live then?" She cried out, Ruby lifted her head, moved her arm and pushed at Sapphire's shoulder so her back once again laid flat on the covers. She looked up at Ruby with tears in her eye and prosthetic eye. Her bangs fell down on the side of her face. She sniffed. Ruby looked down at her, lifted her hand and stroked her face.

"If that happens, which i highly doubt by the way, since your stepdad is atheist right?" Sapphire nodded. Ruby continued. "But if that happens, you'll live here, with me. I don't care if Mona and Hank would refuse it, I doubt that they would. You would live here." She said with a hard serious tone. Sapphire nodded. Ruby stroked her cheek and dried away her tears.

"I have read a lot about those coming out stories too. Most parents come around, parents are people too ya know. They fail, they learn, they grow. Just like kids. She'll change her mind, why wouldn't she when you're so god damn amazing?" Ruby stated with enthusiasm and a smile, Sapphire smiled weakly in return still with tears in her eyes.

"You really think so?" She asked, Ruby nodded and smiled. She lowered her head and kissed Sapphire on the lips. She gave her a hand full of gentle and slow closed kisses before releasing.

"Hey, do you wanna watch a movie or something?" She asked, Sapphire nodded.

"Anything you like, you can show me your favorite." She continued and leaned back. She sat herself up and Sapphire did too, slowly as she seemed to be deep in through.

"Have you seen Wall-E?" She asked. Ruby shock her head. Sapphire's bangs had fallen in its place and covered her prosthetic eye, but her real eye was as always in the wide open, it widened.

"Are you serious?" She asked a bit louder, Ruby nodded again, Sapphire smiled and said:

"Then let's watch Wall-E."

* * *

Ruby had found pillows scattered around the top floor and piled them together as back support against the wall. She didn't have a TV in her room because she only used her computer anyway. She regretted turning down Hank and Mona's offer to get one right now. But she had instead found a small portable speaker one could plug into anything, and Sapphire had found the movie online for her. When she saw the cover she recognized it, said she had seen the trailer for it on TV back in 2008. Back when her life was completely different. They had turned off the lights, placed the computer on top of a few schoolbooks on the very edge of the double bed. And they had started watching, holding around one another.

At first it seemed really quiet and atmospheric, then as the white robot Eve was introduced Ruby found herself to be intrigued. All the while Sapphire leaned against her, making her heart beat fast. Then the little robot Wall-E showed Eve the plant and she fell asleep. When the space ship came and picked her up Ruby felt she was already invested in the story. This was actually a really good movie already, she had thought to herself. And she whispered it to Sapphire who nodded and agreed.

Then when Wall-E fucked shit up Ruby laughed. Sapphire simply giggled quietly. She stared at Ruby a lot. When Eve learned that Wall-E had taken care of her when she was asleep Ruby held her tighter and gave her a few kisses on the cheek. But when Wall-E got hurt and fell through the garbage disposal Ruby slung her arms forward and shouted: No! Then when Eve realized they needed to get home to earth to get Wall-E fixed Ruby leaned back and grabbed Sapphire again. Held her tight. Especially when the gigantic spaceship went for a hyper jump.

Eve had repaired Wall-E and held out her hand. But he did not respond, she gave him a light bulb and a Rubik's cube, he made it into a square, he drove over the cockroach. Ruby felt herself beginning to tear up. She stared intensely at the screen as she held Sapphire tightly. Eve shock Wall-E, shouted his name. A tear ran down Ruby's cheek. She sniffed. Sapphire stared at her and smiled.

"Are you crying?" She whispered, half of her face was lit up by the screen. The other half was in complete darkness. She had moved all of her bangs away from both her eyes. Ruby looked at her and nodded while she smiled slightly in embarrassment. Sapphire stroked her cheek and said:

"Awe Ruby." As she giggled a bit. They both stared back at the screen as Wall-E got back his memories and he and Eve moved close to each other as the other robots arrived and the screen zoomed out. Ruby cried a bit more, relieved that they got each other in the end. The second the movie was over Sapphire grabbed her face and started kissing her in the weakly lit room as joyful music came from the end credits. They released for a few seconds as Ruby asked:

"Do you like it when I cry?" Sapphire smiled, replied:

"Well no. I guess I really like that you're so emotional." Ruby rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Well it was a really good movie." She said. Sapphire nodded, pulled her close again, her hands were behind Ruby's tight curly hair. They kissed again as the end credits rolled. The music changes to something calmer and more beautiful as their tongues did their special little dance together. Sapphire sat close to the inner corner of the bed against the wall, she leaned herself backwards as they kissed and let Ruby move her body just barely over hers. Their wet lips tasted gently over each other before they opened their mouths again and Ruby tiled her head. Sapphire moved her hands down her back and moved them up and down while Ruby moved her hands up to Sapphire's face. She moved away all of the hairs in her face that had fallen back to their normal places. Stroked her cheeks with her thumbs as they continued kissing, before burying her fingers into Sapphire's soft wavy hair on both sides of her head. Ruby felt the static heating up her spine again, hot and delightful it was. it made her moan slightly, when she did Sapphire kissed her harder. The both of them breathed through their noses and Ruby made sure to swallow her spit every now and then in order for it not to get too messy. Her heart pumped so hard and fast it almost felt weird. Her body was burning hot, her mind was in a hot wet smudge of hands and kisses. She released, let her mouth breathe deep breaths just a centimeter or so away from Sapphire's thick wet lips. The light from the screen was faded since the end credits was black. Sapphire lifted her hand, stroked her cheek again as she smiled widely. Ruby smiled back, bit gently on her lower lip with her teeth. Then she pressed her tongue through Sapphire's wet lips and they made out once more. The music stopped, Ruby started licking Sapphire ear. She sighed deeply, said:

"Ruby, the music." Ruby released.

"You want me to put something on?" She asked, Sapphire nodded. She let go of her as Ruby lifted herself up and away from Sapphire. She crawled to the edge of the bed where her computer was, closed the tab the movie was on, and found youtube.

"Madrugada?" She asked.

"Sure." Sapphire responded. Ruby soon found Madrugada, the same album as yesterday and pressed play. She then crawled back to Sapphire who was lying on her back with open arms and a big smile. The room was lit in blue as the album cover of the youtube video was set on full screen mode. Ruby hugged her tightly as she felt Sapphire move the covers over them both again, then she stroked her back as Ruby started kissing her neck.

"Mmh." Came from Sapphire's pulsating neck. Ruby released.

"But you do like it when I kiss your neck, don't you?" She asked. Sapphire smiled, looked down at her and turned her head slightly towards her.

"Yes." She responded. Ruby bent down again and kissed her neck even harder with her open mouth and tongue. Sapphire sighed again, quite deeply. Ruby moved her hand down her arm and found her hand held it tightly.

"Don't make any hickeys." She said.

"OK." Ruby whispered in-between two kisses. Then after a little while she moved up to kiss her lips again. They made out once more, and as they did Sapphire moved herself forward and made them both roll over. She moved herself over Ruby, kissed her hard as Ruby smiled at the feeling of being dominated. Sapphire held both of her arms over her head, bit her lip and then moved her head down her neck, tracing it with gentle kisses. Close to her artery Sapphire licked and kissed her hard and let go of her hands. She moved them down the sides of Ruby's body and placed them on both sides of her hips. Ruby moved both her arms over and behind Sapphire's shoulders like a big intimate hug. Sapphire didn't stop kissing her neck for one second, and the bolts up her spine re-appeared. She moaned, Sapphire moved her head to the same level as hers again. Smiled and kissed her hard on the lips. Their tongues found their rhythms again and Ruby moved her hands down Sapphire's back, while she moved her hands up Ruby's body again and buried her hands in her hair. Ruby felt her groin pulsating.

* * *

Who knows how long they had been making out, switched sides, kissing each other's necks, cheeks, ears and lips. It was great, and Ruby never wanted it to stop. But this kind of lip and tongue action she was sure her lips and tongue were not used to. So her muscles grew tired. Reluctantly she had to ask Sapphire if they could take a break.

"The muscles in MAH face are tired." She had said, which made Sapphire giggle and then she had agreed.

Now they laid on top of each other in silence as the music still played. Sapphire held her close, and Ruby rested her head on her shoulder, close to her collar bone. She had not dared to touch Sapphire's boobs or butt even though she really wanted to. Scared it might suggest she wanted something more, and had to turn Sapphire down. But Sapphire hadn't touched her in that way either, maybe she too wasn't ready. She moved her head close to Sapphire's neck and kissed her so gently it was more like a tickle on her lips. Sapphire giggled.

"Weren't you tired?" She asked.

"Yes, but I never want it to stop." Ruby answered.

"Me neither." Sapphire whispered. She moved her body down and faced Ruby as their eyes locked. Weak blue light still lit up her face from below. Ruby blushed and smiled, said:

"You are so beautiful Sapphire."

"Thank you. So are you." Sapphire responded and smiled with her teeth. She leaned in and kissed Ruby gently a few times with her mouth closed.

"You're the prettiest girl I have ever seen." She said. Ruby pressed out a tight raspy laugh.

"I find that hard to believe." She said, rolled her eyes.

"No it's true. Your face, your body, and your mind. They are all so beautiful I don't know what to do with myself half of the time." Sapphire stated quite passionately. As if she was talking about a movie she loved. She had her hair away from her eyes, her eye stared at her intensely. She smiled from ear to ear. The compliments made Ruby's body and especially face heat up so much. Sapphire was bound to notice her blushing. Ruby had to look away, she laughed.

"Shocks Sapphire." She said.

"I have actually liked you for a long time, almost half a year actually." She continued. Ruby became shocked.

"Really?" She asked, Sapphire nodded.

"Yeah." She said. "Before summer break when I first saw you for the first time I thought you were so beautiful. You had just had P.E and you wore shorts and a tank top and your hair was wet." Ruby blushed even more. Why didn't she remember seeing her?

"I sat on the stairs with sunglasses and it was before I bleached my hair. Some girls were kinda mean to you." Something in Ruby's head clicked and she saw a brown haired tan girl with sunglasses sitting in the stairs before her.

"Oh my god I remember that! AAW I should have said hi to you or something. But I remember I was really angry because at P.E those girls had jumped on be to catch the ball and I had fallen over one of them and they screamed and said I was gross and stuff." Ruby said, she could feel the sadness from the event begin to rise in her body. Sapphire stroked her cheek.

"After that day when school started again I always looked for you. I knew when you had P.E, sometimes I even.." She giggled silently to herself.

"What?" Ruby asked and smiled. Sapphire lowered her head a bit, clearly embarrassed.

"Sometimes when you had P.E outside I spied on you. Just to see you run around and get angry at your stupid classmates. Is that weird?" She asked with a smile on her mouth.

"What? No, I can't believe I never saw you. Man what's wrong with me? I'm sorry." Ruby screamed. Sapphire giggled, pressed her close and hugged her rightly. She whispered in her ear:

"It's OK. I never dared to speak to you. But look at us now."

"Yeah." Ruby responded. The both of them sighed at the same time while still holding one another. Ruby smiled to herself, still feeling her body heat up and her blush linger in her face. Something came to mind, and her smile faded.

"I haven't talked to Hank and Mona about what the principal said." She stated, Sapphire released and stared at her. She seemed serious.

"Why not?" She asked. Ruby sighed. Spoke.

"Not only will I lose my allowance for a week if they know I got into another fight. I don't mind that too much because I know it's wrong. But.. I just. I don't want them to think they are bad parents or something."

"I bet they think the same as I do. That your principal was very inappropriate. They should know, and complain on your behalf." Sapphire commented.

"Complain to who? It was the fucking principal." Ruby yelled out, felt herself growing a tad bit angry. Sapphire stroked her cheek, Ruby sighed.

"There are people higher up in the system, your foster parents I am sure knows this." Sapphire continued. Ruby lowered her head a bit, said:

"Yeah you're right. I just can't bring myself to do it. I am still upset about it."

"I can go with you." She responded with a smile. She let go of Ruby and at up.

"You mean right now? Are you sure?" She asked while she too sat herself up. Sapphire moved the covers off them both as she replied:

"Yes I am sure. I wanna help." She let her feet fall to the floor and stood up. Ruby reached out for her hand, grabbed it.

"You're sure you won't feel scared or anything? I don't want you to.." Ruby asked worryingly. Sapphire giggled, held her hand tighter.

"You have made my day go from good to amazing. I feel great, don't worry." She said. Ruby let go of her hand, stood up in her bed and jumped off. Her feet landed on the floor, she smiled. She immediately opened her arms and hugged Sapphire again. She of course hugged her back. It felt like they had known each other forever. Ruby looked at the window, it had been dark for a few hours already.

They released, Ruby breathed in deeply and let it out slowly. Sapphire held both of her shoulders with her hands.

"You can do this." She said. Ruby nodded.

"OK let's get this shit over with." Sapphire let go of her and grabbed her hand. Ruby walked out of the room first with Sapphire by hand. They walked down the stairs slowly as they heard the TV was still on. Sounded like a documentary, and they heard animal sounds. Ruby looked at the photos that hung on the walls, down at the steps. She sighed again, felt kind of scared. Was this how Sapphire felt like all the time? She asked herself. Poor girl.

They walked into the living room together. It had brown walls, gray brown wooden floors and lots of pictures scattered on the walls. A big long bookshelf filled with books of all colors and sizes. And a small TV standing beside it. The couch and coffee table was in the other side of the room, to their right. The couch was dark green, not very pretty at all. The coffee table had magazines about science and books opened and put down on its pages. Hank and Mona sat in the corner of the coach together, close to one another but not touching. Hank looked at the TV while Mona read a cover-less red book. They both looked up as she and Sapphire entered the room. Ruby let go of her hand.

"Oh hello." Hank said with a smile.

"Hi." Ruby responded, she and Sapphire walked around the coffee table and sat on the very edge of the couch. They sat down close to one another in silence. Hank and Mona followed their movements with their eyes, seemed to notice something was going on.

"Listen, I need to tell you something." Ruby said.

"Yes?" Said Mona, Ruby let out another deep sigh. Sapphire grabbed her hand resting on her lap, held it tightly. They got eye contact for a second, Sapphire had covered her prosthetic eye again with her bangs. Ruby looked over at her foster parents. She opened her mouth and said:

"I.. Yesterday.. I got into a fight, and then.. I got sent to the principal's office. And she said.." She looked down, closed her eyes. All the times she had been sent to another home, being a thorn on so many people's sides. Her mother, Ruby sighed again.

"What did she say?" Mona asked. Sapphire shock her hand while still holding onto it.

"Tell them." She whispered. Ruby looked at Hank and Mona who stared at her. She looked down at her feet again, closed her eyes hard, said:

"She said: Your stock up foster mother will lose the right to have you if you don't stop fighting." She opened her eyes and looked over at Mona. She looked shocked. All the times she had been driven off to a new place, not knowing how she would be treated. The trail of arguments she created, crying herself to sleep thinking nobody would ever want to have her.

"Can she really do that?" Ruby asked. Her voice cracked. "Can she really report you two to child services just because I am fighting my bullies at school? I just can't do it all over again," Tears ran down her cheeks, Sapphire moved her hand up and around Ruby's shoulder turned away from her. Pressed her close. Ruby let it happen, even in front of Hank and Mona. As they hugged Mona said:

"Of course she can't. We speak to the child services at least every second month, they know you get into fights every now and then, they know why. You know they have come here many times and checked if all was well, and it was. We have had other foster children before you, they trust us. Don't you worry, you are not going anywhere." Ruby and Sapphire released, looked at them. Hank and Mona had moved closer to them on the couch, Mona was closest to her. She lifted her arm and touched Ruby's back, started stroking it. Sapphire still held onto her hands.

"We will never send you away, you know that." She said, Ruby looked down at hers and Sapphire's hands. Nodded in silence. Mona stood up, crossed her arms while she looked straight ahead.

"That woman I'm telling you, is getting on my nerves. I'm going to arrange a meeting with her, and if that doesn't work I shall file complaints to the educational affairs." Ruby looked up at Mona, but turned her head and looked at Sapphire as Mona mentioned the educational affairs. Sapphire smiled at her, silently telling her: I told you so. Ruby felt like kissing her, and sat up. Sapphire did so too.

"OK thanks we are going now!" Ruby shouted, Hank giggled.

"Are you two going outside?" He asked, Ruby smiled.

"No I just.. We're going upstairs." She responded.

"Ah." He said as he gaped and nodded. Ruby grabbed Sapphire's hand, dragged her along as she started walking. They quickly walked up the stairs again, Ruby first. The second they reached the top Ruby let go of her hand and turned around. Opened her arms and hugged her tightly, it took a few seconds for Sapphire to respond, but she of course returned the embrace.

"Thanks." Ruby said.

"Any time." She responded. As they hugged they heard music coming from the bedroom, Sapphire's cellphone. They released and Sapphire walked in first. She opened the top pocket of her backpack as always and answered the phone. She sat down on her knees.

"Hi. yes, mhm. Oh, OK. Let me know when you're there then. OK bye." She said over the span of maybe two minutes. She sat up, looked at Ruby.

"My mom is on her way." She said, Ruby sighed.

"Fine." She responded and looked down. Sapphire grabbed her backpack and took Ruby's hand. They walked together down the stairs, and as they walked through the hallway Ruby shouted:

"Sapphire is leaving now!"

"Bye Sapphire!"

"Bye!" Both Mona and Hank shouted.

"Bye." Sapphire responded much lower. They walked into the small hall, Ruby closed the door behind them. She turned around, Sapphire stood before her with both of her hands behind her back. She smiled expectedly. Ruby lifted both of her hands, grabbed her head and pulled it to close to hers. They kissed and Sapphire wrapped her arms around Ruby's back. Once again Ruby walked forward and they sunk into the fabrics of the jackets on the wall. Sapphire hit the wall, giggled for a moment. Then she pushed Ruby hard around her back and kissed her hard and fast. Ruby's body heated up fast and she felt her heart beating hard. They released as they breathed heavily.

"Sapphire, you'll come tomorrow too right?" She asked.

"I can't, Mom wanted me home right away, singing class and all. You got boxing too right?" Sapphire responded out of breath. Sometimes it almost seemed like they were doing something else, just the mere thought made Ruby blush hard.

"I'll see you at the bus stop then." She responded. Sapphire nodded. They kissed again, let their tongues dance their wet gentle dance a minute or so before Ruby released again and said:

"On Friday it's Halloween ya know? Wanna dress up and, I donno, do Halloween stuff?" They were both still out of breath. Ruby imagined what it would be like of she touched one of Sapphire's more intimate places, she blushed hard again. Sapphire nodded, smiled, pushed her close again and kissed her. Ruby wanted to hear her moan and started nibbling on her neck, as she got further down she opened her mouth and licked with all her might. Sapphire moaned weakly. Ruby imagined her lying down with her legs spread apart. She pressed herself even harder against Sapphire, especially with her legs. She felt her groin beating and tingling, Sapphire grabbed her head and moved it up to her level, kissed her hard in her open mouth. They breathed heavily into each other's mouths for a few seconds. They were about to kiss again when it honked from outside. Sapphire closed her eyes hard and sighed.

"Damn it." She said. She opened her eyes again and smiled. "You're such a good kisser Ruby." She continued. She blushed hard and her lips were blank and slightly pinker than usual. She gave Ruby a small peck on her lips before she turned around, found her backpack on the floor. She took her jacket and scarf and hat within it over her arm. She stepped into her shoes without untying them, the soft tissue behind the heels of the shoes got squeezed together. She gave Ruby a quick hug, Ruby kissed her cheek a few times as they hugged. She just couldn't get enough.

"Bye Ruby." She said.

"Bye Saffy." Ruby responded, she laughed as she opened the door. Her mother's car was parked outside with the lights on. Cold air hit her face. Ruby stood in the door as Sapphire walked down the stairs and waved to her with a big smile. Ruby waved back, She stole one glance at the mother sitting in the car, the woman stared back at her, looked away as their eyes met. A few of Sapphire's features had been inherited by her, that was clear. Even all the way from here. As Sapphire got into the car Ruby closed the door. She walked into the hall and was about to walk up the stairs when Mona shouted her name.

"Ruby!"

"Yes?" She answered.

"Come here." Mona continued. A stroke of fear hit Ruby in the stomach hard, were they gonna yell at her properly now that Sapphire wasn't here. She hoped not, grabbed herself by the hand and walked into the living room. She walked around the coffee table and sat down where she and Sapphire had been sitting. Hank and Mona were sitting like they did beforehand as well.

"So." Mona said. "That girl Sapphire." Relief filled her body, then she felt embarrassed.

"What about her?" She asked.

"You're dating?" Hank asked and winked. Ruby looked down and smiled, tried to hold her joy in, She shrugged, felt herself blushing.

"I donno, we haven't really talked about it."

"I see. Well, if there is anything you wanna talk about when it comes to girls, or dating, or .. Sex. Don't be afraid to ask, we'll answer, no questions asked." Mona said, all the while Hank nodded intensely. Ruby felt even more embarrassed when the word sex dropped. But she smiled.

"Really? Anything?" She asked, the both of them nodded.

"It's important that we have an open communication." Hank commented, Mona looked at him and nodded. Smiled at him for a second, then she looked back at Ruby.

"No questions are too obvious and embarrassing. And also about what you said today, please please don't be afraid to tell us if someone is treating you unfairly, specially at school. It's really important." Mona said passionately as she leaned forward.

"Thanks, yeah i was kinda afraid to tell you. Maybe you thought you were bad parents or something." Ruby commented a tad bit shyly. Hank burst out with a big laugh.

"Are you kidding me?" He said. "We are awesome parents and we know it!" He shouted, Mona giggled.

"Yes you are." Ruby said and smiled. Mona and Hank opened their arms and Ruby crawled over to them, sat herself on her knees on the coach and hugged them both tightly.

"We love you Ruby." Mona said.

"Yes we do." Hank added. Ruby felt herself tear up as they were still hugging. They had never said that before, she released, looked at both of them. They could tell she was about to cry, they smiled.

"Thank you, I love you too." Ruby said, wiped a tear running from her eye.

"By the way you are not getting any allowance next week." Hank blurred out. Ruby sighed while she still smiled. They just could't help themselves could they, she thought.

"I know." She commented.

"Good. Now, have you done your homework today?" Mona asked. Ruby shock her head, sat herself up and stepped out of the coach.

"I'll do them right now." She said. She used to forget. As she was walking up the stairs she heard Hank shout:

"Ask if you need any help!"

"OK!" She responded. She closed the door behind her, jumped into her bed. The lights were on, she didn't remember turning it on, maybe Sapphire did it. When she was getting her cellphone. Oh Sapphire. Ruby thought. She laid on her stomach, right were she and Sapphire had been lying, making out for hours. She blushed, longed for it to happen again already. She smiled to herself, sighed, and closed her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5 Distance

boltsofacceptance . tumblr . com

* * *

Warning: Adult content: Sex. Triggers: Anxiety, parental neglect.

* * *

Sapphire got in the car, as she closed the door the light which had bit lit, turned off. She put the backpack and jacket between her legs. Nina looked at her, looked down at her jacket and backpack.

"What?" Sapphire asked. Nina hit the gas and they drove out of the driveway, the car turned as Nina spoke.

"You didn't have time to get dressed? I called 15 minutes ago." Sapphire felt nervous, she sighed.

"Yeah time flies by when you're having fun, I guess." She replied. Nina stared at the road as she drove straight forward. It was dark outside, the front lights lit up the road, houses and threes in front of them.

"So she's a lot of fun?" Nina asked again. Sapphire looked down, smiled.

"Yeah, she is. Hysterically funny actually." She said. Nina sighed, said:

"Yes well, she sure stares at you a lot."

"Oh come on Mom, don't be stupid." Sapphire said while she leaned backwards hard as she looked at her mother.

"I'm just sayin'." Nina said, her tone sank. Sapphire looked out through the window, sighed. Her shoulders were tense, she sank down in her seat.

"I'm visiting her on Friday, on Halloween. We're going to dress up and stuff." She said.

"And stuff? You mean trick or treating?" Nina asked, Sapphire nodded. Her mother laughed.

"Since when did you ever care about Halloween?" She asked.

"I don't, but it'll be fun. I haven't done it before after all." Sapphire replied, her mother snorted.

"Stupid American tradition. It isn't Norwegian. It's not Christian." She commented.

"Oh and the Christmas tree is? Last I checked it originated in Germany." Sapphire said rather firmly. Nina sighed. Silence grew as only the sounds of the car engine filled the tiny space in the car. Houses flew by as Sapphire looked at the reflection of herself in the window. She got a bad feeling in her stomach.

"I can go right?" She asked without taking her eyes away from her reflection.

"Sure why not." Nina replied. Sapphire smiled for half a second. Then Nina spoke again:

"But you're not sleeping over that's for damn sure. You call me when you wanna get home, no matter how late, ok?" Sapphire let out a strong demonstrating sigh.

"OK?" Nina added a bit louder.

"Yes OK." Sapphire replied a bit up tight, she looked over at her mother for one second as she replied. Then she looked back at the window. The bad feeling in her stomach grew.

The rest of the drive home was silent.

* * *

Hans opened his mouth in sync with Sapphire's as she sang and he played the keyboard. He as usual was enthusiastic, and smiled.

"Forever in my mind, only you. " Sapphire sang with her eyes closed. She had specifically asked for a modern love song. He had suggested Yuna, said his teenage daughter listened to her a lot. It worked for her, she had played it at home. Made her think of Ruby even though the song was about a lost first love.

"The pieces of my life, only you. You're my first love, you're my first love."

The song ended. Hans stopped playing the keyboard, silence filled the room. She had forgotten everything as she sang, now reality was rushing back. The silence only lasted a few seconds before Hans broke it and clapped a few times carefully.

"Very good Sapphire. Ya know, I might have to ask you to join the choir we have here." Sapphire opened her eyes widely.

"No thanks." She said carefully. Hans sat quietly in the chair behind the keyboard still, he tilted his head. The light from above reflected somewhat on the smooth surface on top of his head.

"Why not?" He asked.

"I don't know if you've forgotten but I don't do well with new people. Especially not many at the time." She replied as she crossed her arms, looked down at the floor. She sighed, if only it wasn't like this, she thought.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot actually, you seem so.. Normal, here, with me." He then commented, Sapphire looked up at him. His facial expression was blank.

"Normal?" She asked. Her gut twisted slightly, it didn't feel good at all.

"No not like that. What I mean to say was.. Um was.." Hans stood up, held both of his hands together. Sapphire lifted her hand, gave him a stop sign.

"I get it, it's ok." It wasn't. "I wanna go now, do you have another song for me?" She asked calmly. Hans nodded as he seemed to grow tense, his forehead became blanker. He picked up a sheet of paper from the wall, handed it to her with the blank side up.

"Here, see you ne.." Sapphire grabbed it, turned around and said:

"Yeah bye." Monotonously. She grabbed her jacket, scarf and hat and walked as fast as she could out of there. When she got into the waiting room that big girl and the smaller thin one were there once more. They were leaning against each other, whispering, smiling. Were they a couple? Sapphire stared at them, they looked back at her. She quickly started walking again, as she did she put on her jacket fast. Zipped it shut and folded the paper as she pushed herself out of the main door. She walked into a cold dark place with big heavy snowflakes falling. She put on her hat right away as she looked up. The snow fell pretty close to one another, wind blew on her bare neck. She knot the scarf around it pretty fast. She sighed. Normal? Am I not normal? She asked herself. She put her hands in her pockets, started walking towards the bus stop. The ground had a thin layer of wet snow over itself, like a white bed sheet. She looked down at her tracks opening holes to the black wet asphalt. Images of cartoons with invisible people walking across floors came to mind, she smiled. Where had she seen that? She thought.

She looked straight forward, at the bus stop. At the small 3 sided open building with windows. Someone was there already, her heart jumped. Was it Ruby? It was already really dark, as if it was in the middle of the night. That's how it is with the dark times, 3 months a year, especially the one in the middle, the sun only comes up a few hours, or not at all. It was hard, made her tired. Made her sadder than usual. But not now. Not with Ruby maybe being at the bus stop already. Sapphire was always the first one to come, and she always waited a little while. This was new.

She peeked into the boos as she arrived at the stop. It was Ruby, and she jumped pretty bad at the sight of Sapphire's white snowy head sticking out from seemingly nowhere. Sapphire giggled.

"Aren't you a little early?" She asked. Ruby stood up, she also wore a hat. A blue-ish purple one, knitted. It looked good on her. She opened her arms and hugged Sapphire right away. Sapphire returned the embrace, smiled as she pressed her chin against Ruby's strong shoulder. Snow had melted on it, it seemed like, so it was wet. She didn't mind.

"Yes but I didn't get to see you today soo." Ruby replied, she spoke loudly into her ear. They released, looked at each other. They were standing just outside the roof of the boos. A snowflake landed on the eyelashes of her right eye, she blinked it away. The lights from the buildings behind Sapphire reflected in her eyes, they stared right at her. She smiled.

"Aren't you sweet." Sapphire stated. Ruby walked backwards as they were still holding around one another as she giggled nervously. She sat down and Sapphire had to let go, she sat herself down right beside her. Grabbed her hand, it was really warm.

"I'm actually out a bit early myself, so. We got a few extra minutes." She said, Ruby leaned in and smiled.

"Good." She said. Their lips met, Sapphire closed her eyes and let her cold lips drag over Ruby's warm. She heard a car drive by on the slushy road. Heat grew in her face and her heart started beating fast again. She tiled her head and opened her mouth after a few closed kisses. Tried to forget everything she had just heard. Everything she was hearing. Hers and Ruby's tongue ever so lightly pressed themselves together, and apart, and together again. Their breaths grew slightly heavier. Sapphire heard light footsteps from afar, she released fast and looked down. A person, a man, walked past the bus stop. He didn't even look at them.

"Sorry." Sapphire whispered. "I'm not used to.. Public affection."

"It's OK, me neither." Ruby replied a bit louder, she lifted her arm and pressed it against Sapphire's back. Pulled her closer and kissed her on the cheek. Sapphire smiled, leaned in again and gave Ruby a few closed kisses on the mouth. It damped from their mouths and noses, especially when they kissed. They released, stared at each other an inch apart. It damped in front of their eyes, the light from above made strong shadows under Ruby's brows and jaw. Her afro hair was tucked neatly into her knitted hat. Gave a slight idea of her head shape, she had a big head.

"Ruby, do you think I'm normal?" She asked. Ruby giggled while not taking her eyes away from her.

"I think you are amazing." She said and smiled a big goofy smile. Sapphire hit her gently near the collar bone with her palm once, smiled.

"I'm serious." She said. Silence grew as Ruby got a firmer look on her face. She stared to the side for a while, her eyes moved slightly every two seconds. Then she stared back at Sapphire again, who had leaned back a few centimeters while she waited.

"What even is normal? Ya know? Hank and Mona have said that even though it doesn't seem like it, everyone has something they regard as something weird and wrong with themselves. They all have some kind of problem, or something with their body, or mental health, or family. I have it too, and so do you, if anything I guess you are pretty normal." Ruby answered enthusiastically. Sapphire stared at her and smiled, felt the blood in her cheeks increasing.

"It's hard to believe you get bad grades when you say stuff like that Ruby." She commented. Ruby giggled.

"You can thank Hank and Mona. " She said as she smiled. "They were the ones talking to me about this. I asked why people bully and they said it was because they struggle with shit too. They were the ones getting the ball rolling." Sapphire grabbed her head, just above her ears under the hat. She shock it weakly as she said:

"I think you are pretty smart."

"Really? I often feel so stupid because of school and all. All I can do is read." Ruby stated and looked down. Sapphire leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She tiled her head and nipped gently on her tiny soft lips. The soft wet tissues that made out her lips spread and closed, opened, and a thick slippery tongue tip came through. As it did Sapphire tiled her head, opened her mouth, and as she did, so did Ruby. The tips of their tongues played in there for a few seconds before their tongues moved slower, met with bigger waves. They closed their mouths, their lips, opened them again, let their tongues meet once more. Ruby's other arm moved around Sapphire's side and her hand pressed against her back. Pushed her close, Sapphire leaned to the side and slightly down. Her head leaned against the glass window. Ruby moved one of her hands against the back of her head, pressed it hard. They kissed deeper and faster, hot waves traveled up her spine, she smiled as they kissed.

"Aaah." She whispered. She lifted her hand and let her bare cold finger gently slide over Ruby's left cheek. It was hot, she was blushing too. Sapphire opened her eyes and looked at her. Looked at the muscles on her cheeks as her face moved, made out with her mouth, so close. Looked at her eyes as they were shut. Her tiny black eyelashes. Her eyebrows, in gentle curves, a passionate silent expression. Her slim nose, with skin clean and blank, lit from above. She was so beautiful, Sapphire thought. And none of them were normal. Nobody was.

She heard footsteps again and released, turned her head towards the wall, and the window. Ruby embraced her. Sapphire saw the two girls from the waiting room exiting Marius' Music school as she heard two sets of footsteps passing by behind her. The two girls, the tall big one with the curls and the shorter thin one with light barley shoulder length hair, walked hand in hand. She smiled to herself as Ruby rubbed her face gently against the back side of her neck.

"Ruby look." Said Sapphire. Ruby leaned back turned her head in the same direction. She looked through the window as she said:

"What?"

"Look, those two girls. They're a couple." Sapphire replied as she nodded once. Ruby's eyes widened for a second before she relaxed and smiled. She looked over at Sapphire with a warm gaze. They smiled to each other, had a common understanding. So they were not alone. They were not the only two girls in this town who liked each other. Ruby still held onto her, but not as tightly. There was space between their bodies.

They were about to kiss when Hank's car drove into the driveway of the bus stop. It squeaked from the brakes, cut through the air for a second. Sapphire looked down and blushed hard as Ruby waved to Hank in the car. He waved back. Then Ruby leaned in, kissed her on the cheek and said:

"See you tomorrow then." They smiled to each other, Sapphire nodded.

"Yes, bye." She said. Ruby got up with the bag in her hand, walked over to the car and went inside. They drove off and Sapphire sat on the bus stop alone. She had her legs close together, as if she wore a skirt still. She pushed her knees so hard together it almost hurt. She sighed, felt so very lonely. She always did whenever she and Ruby parted, and then the loneliness would fade away and she could get used to be alone again. Until night came.

The snow had covered the ground and the roads in a tick glittery carpet. Only the traces of the car wheels on the road stuck out in dark grey. Sapphire found her cellphone in her pocket, looked at the watch. Only a few minutes past eight. The bus would arrive soon. She smiled to herself, spread out her legs as if she was Ruby, leaned back a little. She closed her eyes, sighed deeply. It still felt like a fairytale. The best thing was that it wasn't. This is real life, she thought to herself.

The bus arrived, it came from her left. From the town down the hill. Behind some of the buildings in view was the ocean. Dark grey, almost not showing. She stood up and made herself visible when she saw the bus. She found her wallet as it stopped in front of her. The bus as always made lots of air noises, as the doors opened. The engine from the bus growled and made the vehicle shiver. She walked inside, gave the bus driver 35 kr without looking him in the eyes. He gave his thanks and later gave her a small paper ticket. She nodded to him with her eyes set on the seats right behind him, on the very front. She immediately sat herself down there. and found her place close to the window. She looked out as the doors closed and the bus started driving again.

It turned in to the left, the radio was on. Some silly song from Melodi grand prix, one of the old ones. She looked at her reflection as buildings drove by. The stadium, with a snow filled grass field. Two large buildings with curved roofs on both sides of it. One was for soccer, the other for hand ball and basket ball. Then, more houses. She saw herself blink in the window. Her white hat still sat on her head. She smiled to herself, tried to see what it looked like when she smiled to Ruby. Tried to see what she saw. It was impossible.

She smiled to herself, to her reflection. It quickly faded. She was going home. To her mom. She didn't like people like her. She sighed, turned her head around and looked back in the bus. Just one other passenger, a man. He could rape me, she thought for a split second. Then she shock her head, looked straight ahead. Leaned to the side to get a better view. She mapped in her head where she was, how far it was until she got home. Exactly what her bus stop looked like. The bus wasn't there quite yet.

When the time finally came she pushed a small red button right in front of her that said STOP. She could also pull in a yellow rope connected to a wire over each window. But the button was closer. The bus slowed down and turned into her bus stop to the left. It stopped, and she stood up, walked up to the door as it opened. Cold wind blew in her face, she stepped down and onto the snow on the ground. The doors closed behind her, the engine growled again and the bus drove off behind her. The sounds coming from it fading in the distance. She sighed with relief, she really hated busses. It was finally over, for now.

She started walking as she hummed on that Grand prix song, caught herself in singing it and stopped. She walked in a hurry, it was too cold to think. All that came to her was walking, ending the cold. Continuing.

Cars passed by her on the road, she turned right to a thinner road going up. She saw her house on the very top of the small hill with their grand property around it, buried in snow. During summer the green grass was neatly chopped and on one of the flatter parts of the garden a big trampoline would be. Most kids couldn't afford those, but they could. Both Nina and Arild's cars were parked outside, both BMV's. Sapphire had stopped and looked up at her property, at her big white house. With big tall windows and a high roof. She turned around, looked at the view. It was dark, but she could see all the way down to the docks, boats lit up on the ocean going in on the hills around it. Lights moved gently in the water, from the other side on another hill. It was lit up from many houses and roads. They had a good view, a nice house on top of the hill. She stared at the hill intensely in the dark as it damped from her nose and mouth. She had never thought of herself as rich. Maybe Ruby was right, maybe she was?

She started walking up towards her house. Soon she reached it and walked inside. When she walked inside she came into a big white hallway with dark stone tiles, perfectly tiled. The roof was high, and shoes, jackets and a small bench were placed against the walls. A big grey soft carpet was also placed in the middle of the floor. Sapphire took off her jacket and kicked off her shoes. Placed them carefully against the wall and walked into a long hallway.

The lights in the hallway were out, but she could see the shadows of picture frames and faces hanging on the walls. Knew they were family pictures of them all through put her entire life and older. Her happy childhood, Ola and her playing, her parents getting married, her in a flower dress. Somehow, looking at them in the darkness made her think of them differently. As if it all had been an illusion, a lie. She frowned as she walked, looked straight forward. Towards the living room, well lit up. Towards the light.

She walked through the big open door, came into a big white room with light wooden floors. Blank and clean, a big white carpet and white and light brown furniture. Nice paintings filled the walls, they were all bought on fancy galleries. Often of nature, but sometimes abstract shapes. One wall stood empty, and on it big brown letters had been glued, it said: Family and love. She had always found it to be cute because they were a family and they did love each other. Now it seemed stupid, as of she had to be told what they were. As of she had to be force-fed that they loved each other. To let guests see that they were the perfect family with a perfect house. Neat cars, a religious foundation, surely a family with strong morals. Yet here she stood, the cancer patient, the bullied soon to be thrown into a mental institution. Any time now, she was sure, they would tell her she was bat shit crazy, not so perfect anymore. The lesbian, unnatural, disgusting, shameful lesbian. She who falls for a girl that doesn't meet the hyper feminine and hyper sexualized beauty ideals. Maybe it was more OK if Ruby was more like her? With the hips, the lips, the long hair and small waist.

She sighed, her parents sat on the coach. They sat a meter away from one another, silently watching a TV show about house renovations. Nina knitted, Arild had a car magazine in his hands but seemed to have forgotten it was there. On the coffee table before them were two glasses of tea and a small bowl of green fresh grapes. She was tempted to grab a few, but didn't want to go near her mother right now.

She turned around as soon as she came in, walked into the long hallway, walked through a closed door and into a big tall room with a great white staircase. It was of wood, and it was silent. Nothing creaked as she walked up the stairs into the second floor. She came into another white picture filled hallway. Walked passed Ola's room with his door ajar. She peeked inside, saw in sitting on the floor with a friend of his. Max, they both played with cars and trains and airplanes. All in small carefully painted models of course. They laughed and pretended a plain crashed into a car on the ground, made explosions sounds. Sapphire smiled, sweet little Ola. At least he seemed to be inside this oh so precious family circle. At least he felt like she had always done. That is until she found out she was a lesbian.

She walked into her own room, crossed her arms over her chest. She walked back and forth, much unlike herself she was restless. She took her cellphone out of her pocket, threw it on her bed, it jumped off the bed once and landed on it again. She wished she had Ruby's parents, so calm, collected, funny, chill. They didn't care what Ruby was, as long as she was happy. Why did she get the feeling at least her mother would not think the same way? Wasn't she the kindest most trustworthy woman in her life? Wasn't she her mother figure? Sapphire walked in circles, ended up sitting down in her bed. As she sat still with her arms crossed, she shock her right leg fast. She sighed.

It beeped from her phone, and it vibrated for just a second. The vibrations were somewhat mutes since it still lay on the soft covers of her bed. She jumped slightly, grabbed the phone. It was a text from Ruby:

"Can't wait to see you tomorrow. I don't think we have much make-up here, you do right? Can you take some with you?" Sapphire smiled to herself. Scrolled up for a few seconds, re-viewing the endless texts of: Hi's and Hello's and good night's and what's up's. Every now and then there were: I can't stop thinking about you's and compliments both intellectual and superficial. Not to mention all their calls, Sapphire remembered. How was it Ruby made her feel so happy in one moment, and so sad the next? Because of her mother? She kind of wished Ruby was a boy instead. But she realized if that was so, she wouldn't be interested. The sad truth. She didn't like Ruby because she was a girl, but if she wasn't, Sapphire wouldn't have liked her in the first place. Sapphire thought back to them embracing one another, kissing, breathing, blushing. Her eyelashes and the snowflake she blinked away. She smiled to herself again, blushed slightly.

"I can't wait either, it's gonna be fun. I'll see what I have." She texted back. She put the phone carefully on her bed again, sighed and smiled. She stepped up, as she walked out of her room she heard her phone make sounds again. She stopped, looked at it, then she continued.

She went straight for her bathroom and into the lockers behind the mirror. The little cabinets on the wide white clean counters. Baskets were scattered everywhere, some were filled with hairbrushes, others, rubber bands. Some with jewelry tied in seemingly unsolvable knots. The mere sight of it made Sapphire dread to untangle it in the future, whenever that might be. A date with Ruby perhaps? She smiled to herself, continued.

She found the basket filled with make-up. Mostly eye shadows, powders and eyeliners, mascaras. A few lipsticks, all in gentle delicate colors like she preferred. All of this was all hers, sure she shared the bathroom with Ola. But he never used any make-up. An image flew into her mind, an old memory. Ola and a friend of his had dressed up one summer a few years back, had tied towels over their shoulders and neck as if they were capes. They wore strange make-up of all colors. Sapphire didn't think about it much back then, but where did he get that kind of make-up from?

Sapphire put the basket back in its cabinet, closed it carefully, deep in thought. Then she stood up from her knees, and walked out of the bathroom. She placed herself right before Ola's bedroom door. It was white, clean, had his name on it in silly Winnie the pooh stickers. She lifted her hand, and knocked carefully. Normally she would burst in, if she was mad she might even look for it without asking him. Telling him it was originally hers even if it wasn't. But she was so happy, and he had been so sweet lately. And she wanted him to continue knocking on her door before entering, so she figured she might as well do the same to him in return. Respect is earned by giving it, after all.

"Yes?" Ola said, his thin voice seemed to play serious.

"Hi it's me, can I talk to you for a sec?" Sapphire asked.

"Come in." He replied, she entered. He was sitting on the floor, with his legs spread apart. He sat with a gigantic plastic green T-rex in one of his hands. And one of her old barbie-dolls in his other. The doll's head had been placed in-between the dinosaur's open mouth. Sapphire smiled, so much for the seriousness.

"What's up? Where's Max?" She asked and sat down with him. He smiled at her, said:

"Oh he had to go home. I'm just playing Jurassic park. Look." He lifted his toys, then he shock the dinosaur and said:

"GRRR!" And then he shock the woman, her blond plastic hair got waved back and forth like a painting brush.

"Waaa, help me, ouch, oow waaa!" He yelled out with as thin of a voice he could make. He wickly went back and forth between the two voices, Sapphire started laughing. Ola stopped, smiled and looked at her as she laughed.

"What?" He said.

"Nothing, it just looked kinda funny." She responded, Ola nodded and looked down at his toys. He was about to continue when Sapphire spoke again, interrupted it.

"Listen, remember back when you and Max played super-villains with all that theatre make-up?" Ola smiled, seemed to remember.

"Ahh, yeeah, that was fun! What about it?" He asked.

"I just want to barrow the paint, if that's OK?" Sapphire said.

"For what?"

"Well." Sapphire said, smiled to herself. "I'm going out on Halloween with my new friend Ruby, and she said she didn't have any make-up to use for costumes." Ola gasped, flung his toys away.

"YOU HAVE A FRIEND!?" He shouted. Sapphire giggled.

"Yes, pretty great huh?"

"Yeah!" He responded, he got up on his feet and walked over to his bed. He went back on his knees and dragged out a big flat plastic box with wheels underneath. He removed the lid and threw a few old children's books out. The box was filled with old toys and books. He soon found a small flat make-up kit, broad and with all the colors of the rainbow on it. Sapphire smiled to herself, how ironic, she thought.

"Here, use it all up if you want." Ola said.

"Thank you." Sapphire said as she received it.

"Are you gonna go trick or treating? Like they do in the movies?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied, Ola stood up.

"AAW unfair! I also want free candy!" He shouted in desperation.

"Go ask mom." Said Sapphire. Ola jumped in his bed, sat down hard.

"I did, last year. She said no." He said, his voice was filled with sorrow, it was almost hard to watch. Sapphire sat down on her knees in front of him, touched his shoulder with her right hand.

"As you grow older you will learn that adults, and parents especially, aren't always right." She said.

"What?" Ola responded, Sapphire stood up. She held the make-up kit firmly in her hand and said:

"Thanks for lending it to me." Then she turned around, walked out of his room and closed the door carefully behind her. As she was about to re-enter her room she heard her mother shouting from downstairs.

"Sapphire!?" She yelled.

"Yes!?" Sapphire yelled back.

"Come down here, I need to talk to you."

"OK!" Sapphire stood there for a second, sighed deeply. Then she walked into her room, put the make-up kit on her bed, beside her cellphone. She picked it up and quickly sneaked a peek at Ruby's text.

"OK. See you after school then." Followed by a heart. Sapphire smiled, quickly texted her three hearts before putting her phone down and walking out of the room. She ran down the stairs, sighed once again while doing so. She got a bad feeling in her stomach.

Her mother sat in the kitchen, by a small dining table they almost never used. She stared at Sapphire as she entered the room, nodded to her.

"What's up?" Sapphire asked.

"Sit." Nina replied. Sapphire did as she was told and sat herself down on the other side of the table. She stared into her mother's eyes.

"What?" She said.

"So you're going to Ruby's tomorrow still, yes?" Asked Nina.

"Yes?" Sapphire replied.

"Does Ruby have any other friends she has invited over? Any boys perhaps?" Nina asked, Sapphire sighed while she responded:

"No, not that I know of. Why do you ask?" Nina sat back in her chair, stared at Sapphire intensely. Her brown hair lay over her shoulders, much like Sapphire's often did. Only her mother had no curls or waves in her hair. Her bright blue eyes seemed cold now for some reason.

"I just thought. Ya know, maybe Ruby had lots of guy friends. You know those lesbians, they are often much more like boys anyway. And, well if she brought some over and you know, you took a liking to one of the boys I just wanted to make sure you were prepared." She replied.

"Prepared for what?" Asked Sapphire, she tiled her head a bit.

"Sex." Nina said, rather monotonously. Sometimes Sapphire could see so much of herself coming from her mother. Usually she took pride in it, somehow it was different now.

"OK!" Said Sapphire, she stood up and was about to walk away from the table. Nina grabbed her arm carefully, Sapphire turned around and looked down at her mother who was still sitting.

"I know it can be embarrassing, but you need to know about these things."

"No mom, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"NO, I don't. I really don't."

"You might think you know everything, teenagers often think that. But you don't and I would like to help you prevent from doing mistakes that I made when I was young. You know grandma, she wasn't.. Easy to talk to." Said Nina.

"Mistakes? Are you talking about me now?" Asked Sapphire with spite. Nina's eyes got wide, she let go of Sapphire's arm.

"What!? NO, you are not a mistake!"

"But I'm an accident?"

"That's not the same thing." Nina pulled Sapphire to herself still while sitting. She pressed her head against Sapphire's belly and said:

"You know I love you, will you please just sit down and listen?" Sapphire looked straight forward, sighed. She was still mad and hurt by her mom. Why had she said that? To make her sad i return?

"OK mom. I'm sorry." She said, Nina let go of her and Sapphire sat down on the chair again.

"OK." Nina said. "I am sure you have had some sex ED at school. But no matter what I want you to know that you make your own choices in the matter. I will not ask you to marry before you have sex or something weird like that. You sleep with any guys you like, as long as you are safe and they care about you and not just your body.

This might not account for right now, but when the time comes for you to chose to be sexually active, you first need to go to the health center. You will need prevention, the pills, and for that you need a gynecological examination first, just to see if everything is alright. Not for STDs but basically everything else. You can ask me more about that when the time comes. But after you have gotten the pills you will also need condoms. Why? Because STDs. They spread like wildfire. If you sleep with 1 person who has STDs and then you sleep with 5 people, and they sleep with 5 people, and you times that with 5 suddenly there's 25 people with STDs. No matter what, always use condoms. If you don't dare to ask the guy to wear a condom, you are not mature enough to have sex. Be clear on your intentions, communicate openly. And if something is about to happen that you don't want to, tell him. Visa versa too, if he looks unsure, don't do anything, ask. And please, wait until you're sixteen, please don't sleep around. It's not very lady like."

"You slept around." Sapphire stated.

"And it was still not very lady like." Nina said and smiled.

"Thanks for the concern and all but I'm not sleeping with anyone and I don't know any boys. Ruby doesn't have any friends either, it's just the two of us."

"Are you sure about that? What if she is lying just to be alone with you?"

"Oh come on mom. I am pretty sure. She goes to GC2, it's not exactly a safe haven to find friends in."

"So she's a trouble maker?" Nina asked, Sapphire shrugged.

"Not to me she's not." She replied.

"So she isn't aggressive or anything?" Nina asked.

"What? No. I know she might look it because she is so boyish but.. Actually.." Replied Sapphire. Nina stared at her again, Sapphire knew what she was doing. Digging to find something doubtful about Ruby. Maybe it started with sex, but this might why she had been called down.

"She's very kind, and funny and caring. I think she's the only friend I have ever had that aren't hanging out with me just to not be alone at school or something. She actually wants to see me, and we haven't even known each other for that long."

"She does seem to like you a lot." Nina added. Sapphire stood up.

"You know what? Just forget it. You haven't even spoken to her yet you assume lots of things about her. Why do I even bother talking to you?" Sapphire looked down at her mother.

"What? I am just stating my observations." She said. Sapphire growled weakly, turned around and walked out of the kitchen,

"Sapphire!" Her mother yelled, She didn't answer. She ran up the stairs and went into her room. Closed the door carefully behind her. She fell down on her bed, lay on her back. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

So those lesbians are always one of the guys, masculine, violent.. Hyper sexual. She might as well start wearing flannel and shave her head. She put her arms around herself, looked up at the clean white ceiling. A tear ran down the hole from her prosthetic eye piece.

She lifted her arm over her own body and grabbed the phone placed right beside her head. She unlocked the phone and looked at another text from Ruby, just a heart. She smiled, clocked on Ruby's name above the text, clicked on the green phone button, pressed the cellphone against her ear. Waited.

"Hello!" Said Ruby in the phone.

"Hi Ruby." Sapphire responded and sniffed.

"Is everything OK?" Asked Ruby.

"No I just talked to mom and she still thinks you want me."

"What did she say this time?"

"She asked me if you were gonna bring lots of boys over tomorrow, since, ya know, you've got to be one of the guys right? I said you were kind of like me, didn't have many friends and such. And she speculated that you were lying about it so you could be alone with me. Then she asked me how you behaved around me, and said you seemed pretty into me, she has only looked at you twice." Sapphire said in a hurry, the second she finished she sighed deeply. She slowed down a bit and said:

"And she also tried to talk to me about sex and protection and STDs and stuff like that. I kept telling her I didn't need it." Ruby burst out laughing.

"AIN'T NOBODY GONNA IMPREGNATE ME!" She blurred out. Sapphire laughed, turned around and lay on her belly.

"Ain't nobody gonna put that white stuff in my lady-parts." She said a bit more quietly and laughed,

"MOM didn't you know!? Gay people can't get pregnant from having sex!" Ruby yelled and laughed. Sapphire giggled.

"Educate yourself!" She yelled out.

"AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A SURGION!?" Ruby yelled, Sapphire burst out laughing. Another tear fell from her eye, byt this one was of joy.

"Didn't you study human autonomy for like 10 years?" She added.

"And you tell me you didn't take one look at the reproductive organs and put the pieces together?" Ruby asked and laughed, Sapphire laughed with her for a while. Then the laughed died out.

"Oh Sapphire, try to not think about it too much. Your mom might be somewhat homophobic but she seems to care about you. You got that going for you at least." Said Ruby with a gentle voice. Heat rose in Sapphire's cheeks.

"Thanks Ruby." She said.

"For what?" Asked Ruby.

"For cheering me up." She answered. Ruby giggled.

"Well it isn't exactly hard. Laughy Saffy!"

"Oh laughy Saffy my ass." Sapphire said and giggled.

"Yes please!" Ruby shouted, Sapphire burst out laughing again while her blush grew heavier.

"See?" Ruby said on the other end, Sapphire's giggle died out.

"You're the best." She said.

"Thanks, you too." Ruby responded.

"Oh, and Ola lent me a costume make-up kit, I'll bring it tomorrow!" Said Sapphire.

"Great! Do you know what you wanna dress up as?" Ruby responded.

"I have no idea, do you?" Asked Sapphire while her blush was slowly going down again.

"Pff no, I'll improvise. I'm good at that." Ruby said, Sapphire giggled.

"Oh I bet you are!" She said.

"YUP! Listen, I am hungry so I'm gonna go eat. If you wanna talk later you just call ok?" Ruby said.

"Yeah, ok. Bye."

"Bye Saffy."

Sapphire put away the phone, put her arms under her head and stared up at the ceiling again. This time with a smile on her face. Ruby truly was the best.

* * *

She lay in her bed. It was dark and it was quiet. She hadn't called Ruby again, had instead watched a stupid comedy movie with Arild. Nina had been solving word puzzles in the kitchen the whole time, and somehow that relieved Sapphire greatly. Now she lay in her bed and felt guilty about it. She got the same feeling with her own mother close to her that she got at school with students close to her. Not direct fear, but worry of unpredictability. She had her eye wide open, looking out for confrontation. She lay on her back, turned around on her belly. Pressed her hands against her mouth. Was she scared of her own mother?

"OK OK" She whispered to herself. She touched her forehead, her hair was up in a bun. Think about something else, she thought to herself. Think about something nice. She had her eye open in the darkness, closed it and sighed. Ruby.

Her tight curls shining in the sunlight so long ago. Light reflecting through it, making it glow in dark brown with a tint of orange. Her laugh, her smile. She imagined her boxing, in a big dark room with mirrors. Bright red gloves, she wore a black sports bra and short black shorts. The sweat was running off her, like it did on the bus stop when they first spoke. Her arms were beefy, blank. Her back muscles moved along with her shoulder blades, as Ruby hit a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. There was no string. Sapphire had sunken into a dream, but could still feel her legs moving, her arms lifting her body to the side. Ruby hit the punching bag hard, but stopped when Sapphire appeared. She came looking through her own eye, entering the room with no doors. Ruby looked at her and smiled, dried off her forehead with her lower arm still with her gloves on. She quickly took one off, left the one on her right hand on. She raised her gloveless arm as Sapphire walked towards her. She moved her hand directly on Sapphire's left cheek. Her hands were sweaty, Sapphire put her own hand over Ruby's. Pushed her sweat hand harder against her own cheek. Ruby laughed. Sweat ran down her chest, stiff nipples showed through her black sports bra. Her belly was shapeless, her hips were broad. Her waist was too. Sapphire lifted her other hand, stroked Ruby's wet hair. She pushed her into a tight embrace, Ruby let go of her cheek, moved her arm behind her back. Grabbed her ass.

"I will protect ALL of you." She said. Sapphire laughed, moved her head back. Kissed her on her thin blank lips. It seemed to go by quickly, felt so real. Ruby was all over her face.

"Are you sure you don't care about my eye?" She asked, Ruby kissed her face.

"Yes yes." She mumbled.

"Are you sure you don't care about my anxieties?" She asked again.

"Yes yes, I don't care." Ruby replied.

"But what if we can never go anywhere, because I am scared? What if you want to go somewhere and I get a panic attack? You'll leave me then, when you see it."

"No I won't. Never. I want to see all of you, because I love all of you." Ruby said, squeezed both of Sapphire's but cheeks with both of her hands.

"I want to help you." She said. Sapphire felt herself tear up.

"I don't believe you." She said. Ruby leaned forward again and kissed her on her lips. Opened her mouth and pushed her hot wet tongue into Sapphire's mouth. Sapphire was suddenly naked. They lay down on the floor. Ruby kissed her boobs, moved down to her belly and went further down to her hot beating groin. It all happened so fast.

"Believe in this." She said. The second she let her tongue lick over Sapphire's clitoris, she screamed with unbelievable pleasure.

"YES!" She shouted. "Please love me!"

Sapphire opened her eyes in the darkness. She awoke in a hurry, as if she jumped and was about to fall. Her heart was beating fast, and her thighs were sweat. A sex dream? She thought. It's a first. She put her hand down her panties, slit her fingers through her vaginal lips, lifted her hand up again. She stared at her index and long finger as she made them part only with a few centimeters. It looked like a string of saliva, bonding her two fingers. Bonder her and Ruby together, from her dream. She had been lying on her back again, she turned around and lay on her side. Dried off her wet fingers on the bed sheet by her pillow. She sighed and smiled. To think, she thought. That might happen someday, she felt herself blushing and smiled even wider. Then her smile faded, and she thought: Ruby really has no idea what she is getting herself into.

* * *

Sapphire walked through the hallway at school. She fabled with her hands, a frantic tension had cast itself over her being. Her footsteps were small, but fast. She had just been sitting in class, nobody had disturbed her. And it had come. She was frustrated, a little bit angry. But the fear took over, and she started becoming nothing else but that feeling alone. She had the brains to bring her cellphone with her in the classroom, despite being out of it. The teacher had seen her, but knew, and let her go without a word. The phone was in her pants pocket. She walked fast, started breathing fast. When she was like this she didn't feel her body move, it dotted in her fingertips as if blood did not flow properly there. She didn't really see. Anything she saw just became gone, and no images or words formed in her mind. For a while, she just walked back and forth in the hallway. Until she became somewhat observant for a second and saw a door, recognized the number on it and pressed down the handle. The door was open as always, her assigned door, for panic attacks. Sometimes people were in there, doing school work with their teachers. Then she went to the toilets, During panic attacks; she often forgot that the door existed just for her. Today she remembered, and smiled to herself for half a second. She entered the empty room and closed the door behind her. The small room had been painted in light calm earth colors, two black framed windows and three desks pushed to the very side of the room. There were also three red plastic chairs stacked on top of one another in one of the room's corners. Sapphire sat down right in the middle of the floor. She sat down on her knees and bent over herself. Lay her head carefully on the floor while she put her arms around herself, going over her belly. She hyperventilated as tears pushed through and dripped from her eyes to the floor. She imagined her face to be red as she opened her mouth and breathed deep short breaths. It felt like she was choking.

"Aah!" She yelled out in agony. Her heart was beating so fast. It seemed to last forever. Die die die, she thought. Make it stop, I wanna die.

It did stop, after another ten minutes.

* * *

Ruby sat in a chair. Beside her sat Mona, before her sat Hege, the principal behind a desk. Hege had dark blond hair, neatly put back into a French braid, She had big cold blue eyes. She sat there quietly. Mona started at her, with her shoulder length light blond hair and blue eyes. Her gaze was warmer somehow. Ruby looked down at her legs, twister her shoed ankle slightly. Her hands were in her lap, she stared at her loose black pants.

"Listen, both of you. Ruby." Hege said, the second her name was spoken Ruby looked up at her.

"The other day, when I said.. " She sighed. "I guess there are no excuses but I had a really tough day. We simply don't know what to do when it comes to all the fights and conflicts and I just had the worst day and I was desperate and well. I am very sorry, it must have hurt you a great deal to hear that." Hege looked at Mona while she spoke, she sometimes looked at Ruby. But Ruby understood. The woman respected Mona more than she respected her, and tried to save her ass. Maybe she did see the mistake she made. But who knows how she will act if they are ever alone together again.

"You hear that Ruby? You are not going to be taken away." Mona said and lifted her arm, stroked Ruby's shoulder gently. Ruby sank down in her chair, spread her legs slightly apart, huffed.

"Yeah.." She said. "Sure."

"You don't believe me do you?" Hege asked. Ruby didn't look her in the eyes when she slightly shook her head.

"She seems to mean it." Mona said.

"I do. It was way out of line." Hege added.

"Are you talking to me? Or are you talking to her?" Ruby shouted, pointed at each of them as she spoke their names.

"Ruby, she's still your principal." Mona said with a tad bit frustrated tone.

"She don't respect me, I don't respect her." Ruby mumbled. Hege got up from her chair, walked over to Ruby and sat down on her knees. She and Ruby were on the same height now.

"You have no reason to trust me on this but.." Hege said. She tried to grab Ruby's hand but she quickly let it slide off her grip, turned her head to the side.

"Don't." She said.

"I will not take you away from your foster-parents, and I will never treat you like that again." Hege said with a heavy heart.

"What? So you can keep your job? Tell me again that you will do your best to prevent them gettin' to me and then blame it on me later?" Ruby said, she tried not to shout. Mona seemed to notice that she tried to calm herself down, she smiled.

Hege sighed, stood up. She lifted her hands, clasped them against both sides of her tights. She wore a long dark blue blouse and high black pants. She had a rather nice body shape.

"I don't know what more to tell you." Hege stated.

"It's OK, it takes a lot for her to trust anyone. I am sure you can understand why." Mona said as she stood up.

"Thank you for coming to your senses though, and please, don't let this repeat itself." Mona continued and reached out her hand, Hege grabbed it enthusiastically and smiled.

"You're welcome, and no it won't." She said. Ruby stood up with her arms crossed, looked at Mona as they shock hands. As she turned around to walk out she felt it vibrate from her pocket on the side of her pants. As she walked through the door and heard Mona and Hege say bye to one another, she pulled up her phone. It was a text from Sapphire.

"Hi. I miss you." She had written. Ruby stopped right outside the door, stared down at the phone. Mona walked behind her.

"Is everything OK?" She texted back. The door closed behind her, Mona walked into the side of her vision.

"I get why you don't trust her but you did well in there." She said. "You kept your cool." She continued. Ruby looked up, smiled.

"I am cool." She commented. Her phone vibrated again, she looked down, opened the text.

"No, can I call you?" Sapphire had replied. Ruby hurried and replied:

"Hold on a sec." Then she looked up at Mona who stood there with a straight face and stared at her.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"It's Sapphire. Can you please drive me down to her school?" Ruby asked.

"Why? What's going on?" Mona asked again. Ruby sighed, didn't really want to tell her but..

"I think Sapphire is having a panic attack. And it's lunch now anyway. Please, I will only stay for a little while, then I will walk right up here again for the next class. Please?" Ruby pleaded. Mona stared at her, gave her an unsure look. She looked at the principal's door to her side, back at Ruby again.

"Fine, come on, hurry." Mona replied fast and turned around. Ruby smiled and followed suit as she jumped slightly with joy.

"Thank you! Don't tell her I said that." She yelled. Mona walked before her, walked towards one of the many small hallways.

"Relax, I won't. So that's why she didn't want to eat with us that day." Mona said, Ruby caught up with her and walked by her side.

"Yeah, she didn't want me to tell you." Ruby stated a bit more carefully, as if she had let herself down a bit. They walked into the locker room and Ruby quickly unlocked her locker and threw her jacket over herself. Her shoes were already on. She took a scarf, her hat and a pair of gloves in her hands. Slammed her locker shut and put on the lock again. All the while Mona had leaned against the very end of the lockers a few meters away, waited patiently in silence.

"Come on!" Ruby shouted as she walked past her. Mona followed and closed in behind her. They walked in a hurry, and Ruby pushed herself through the door with her entire body. Bright bleak light shone through the window, and became sharp when Ruby was outside. Snow covered the parking lot, and the few hours of sunlight for the day shone right now. Ruby squinted. She and Mona walked right up to the car close by while Ruby zipped her jacket shut.

They got into the car and Mona started it right away.

"She goes to Garden City school if I have forgot to tell you." Said Ruby. Mona waved with her hand, signalized for Ruby to be quiet.

"Yes, now listen." She said sternly. She pointed at Ruby. "If you don't get your ass back to school within half an hour, she's not allowed to come over this afternoon. Is that clear?" She continued.

"Yes." Ruby said with eyes wide open.

"Good, now I offer you MY trust, don't break it." Mona said still with a stern serious look on her face. The light from the outside reflected in her glasses.

"Yes, thank you. Now can we please.." Ruby said. Mona hit the gas and the car drove forward. They drove down the hill quickly and it only took them a few moments to be at Garden City school.

"You hate this place." Mona said as they drove into the parking lot.

"I hate GC2 more." Ruby commented and smiled. Mona smiled to her.

"Now go be a good support, you lovebird!" Mona shouted as she parked. This was so not like her, Ruby laughed.

"What has gotten into you?" She asked.

"GO!" Mona shouted, Ruby got out of the car, put her scarf and gloves and hat in her pockets. She probably looked even fatter now, she smiled. Found her phone and called Sapphire.

"Hello?" Said a timid voice at the other end. Ruby ran as she spoke, was somewhat out of breath.

"Hi I was at a meeting with Mona at the principal's office, after I asked her to drive me down to your school and she did! I'm here now, where are you?" Said Ruby as she still ran.

"She seriously did that? Just walk into the main entrance, and into that big hallway close to the lockers." Said Sapphire as she sniffed.

"I know where it is. Yeah, I had to tell her I thought you were having a panic attack. Sorry. Is that what's going on?" Asked Ruby.

".. Yes." Sapphire said. Ruby opened the door, flung it open. It crashed into the wall, she went inside.

"I'm so sorry I told her, I really am. But I just thought. I, I donno. I want to be there for you ya know?" Ruby said a bit more quietly as she walked up the stairs. She walked into a big open room with an opening to the big locker room. On the wall close to the opening was a big flat white electric oven. A few teens leaned up against it, they stared at her as she walked past them. Ruby turned left and walked into the hallway.

"It's OK. As long as you're here." Sapphire said on the phone. Ruby could hear the voice coming from somewhere else as well. Somewhere not too far away. She looked straight ahead, saw an open door ten or so meters away from her. Half of Sapphire's head and her hair stuck out of the door. She had the phone pressed against her ear.

"I see you." Ruby said and hung up. She put the phone in her pocket as she looked behind herself. The few teens who stood by the stove stared at her. Ruby looked straight ahead again, reached Sapphire.

Sapphire as always covered one of her eyes in public. The other that looked at her for the moment they exchanged glanced was slightly red and blank. She had been crying. As she reached Sapphire and opened her arms to her she said:

"Oh Sapphire." She pressed herself against Sapphire and felt her arms wrap around herself. Ruby kissed her quickly on her neck and pressed her face against the spot she had just kissed. Walked forwards into the open door and made Sapphire walk backwards. As they still hugged Ruby let her arm go and reached behind her, closed the door and locked it. She could hear Sapphire's breath grow shaky.

"It was so hard to have them stare at us." Sapphire said with a lump in her throat. Then she started hyperventilating silently. Ruby hugged her even harder, bent her legs to signalize she wanted to sit.

"Easy now." She said softly. They both sat down on their knees.

"Nothing is going to happen." She continued. "Take deep breaths." Ruby leaned back and sat down on her butt. Sapphire immediately followed her and sat down on her lap with a leg on each side of Ruby's legs. She sat with her knees against the floor while Ruby's legs were stretched out and closed together. They still hugged tightly while Sapphire took deep shaky breaths. Ruby stroked her back.

"There." She said. Sapphire tightened her grip, it almost hurt.

"I never wanted you to see this." She said with the cry in her voice. Ruby started rocking her slightly from side to side.

"It's OK, I don't mind. Just relax." Ruby said calmly. Sapphire cried in her shoulder a few seconds before she grew silent and breathed heavily again. Ruby let go of her and took off her big red jacket. Put it out behind her and leaned back. They lay themselves down on her jacket, Ruby a bit higher up than Sapphire. She quickly moved herself down to Sapphire's level and lifted her hand, stroked Sapphire's cheek. She had wet tears all over her face and a visible red eye. She exhaled deeply as she stared into Ruby's eyes. She looked embarrassed. Ruby smiled to her, leaned in and kissed one of her wet cheeks, then her jaw before she leaned completely in and gave her a tight embrace. She placed her head in-between Sapphire's neck and shoulder, leaned over her and moved her hands around under her arms. Sapphire moved both of her thin arms over Ruby's neck and pressed her down hard. She didn't seem to cry anymore, she only sighed deeply every now and then. They lay like that for a while, in silence.

Then their embrace loosened and they instead lay beside one another. Sapphire still held onto her but this time with one of her arms over her waist. Ruby had lifted her hand and stroked Sapphire's hair. Moved her hair away from her face, and just stroked it gently. Their faces were not far apart from each other. Ruby smiled weakly, stared at Sapphire as she still sniffed a bit, but seemed to have calmed down. She looked tired.

"Feeling better?" Ruby asked. Sapphire nodded, looked her straight in the eyes.

"Thank you." She said.

"Any time." Ruby replied. Then her stomach growled, the both of them looked down at it. Ruby looked up and smiled, Sapphire even grinned a little.

"Sorry, it's lunch time ya know. And I kinda went down here instead of eating." Said Ruby.

"Really? You must be really hungry then?" Sapphire asked with a timid voice.

"Naah it's OK. I'll eat when I get back. " Replied Ruby with a tight laugh while still stroking her hair. Sapphire sighed a deep shaky breath and looked down.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. I must have looked crazy." She said. Ruby moved her hand away from her hair and down to her waist, pushed her even closer. The tip of their noses met.

"Hey, don't say that." She said softly. "I've had my fair share of tantrums remember? I know what it's like to not be in control. It's upsetting and embarrassing. But it's OK." Sapphire nodded slowly.

"OK." She whispered and shut her eyes, leaned in and gave Ruby a small peck on the lips. Then she moved herself over Ruby and put her head right beside Ruby's, held her on her sides. Ruby had Sapphire over herself and stroked her back with both of her hands.

"What are you like when you have your tantrums?" Sapphire asked. Ruby gave away a self-critical kind of laugh, short but loud. It was almost funny to her.

"Well." She said. "I can just ley down and cry, but I can also destroy things, try to hit people and I often get held down because of that. As a kid I was so difficult to deal with, ya know, so I got sent around. I am not as violent anymore, and they happen further in-between one another. But when they come, oh man, is it a feast for the eyes. My body feels nothing and I am nothing but a ball of anger."

"Can't you take meds for that kind of stuff?" Sapphire asked in her ear.

"Can't you?" Ruby replied. Sapphire moved up, leaned her head on her elbow beside Ruby's head. She looked down at her with a facial expression filled with thought. Her hair hung a bit forward, completely covered her shoulders. Ruby smiled, she was so beautiful.

"I don't take them because of what they will do to my pleasure receptors in my brain, and I don't want to become all.. Flat." She said. Ruby lifted her hand, moved Sapphire's bangs away. Got a good view of both of her eyes.

"And I don't do it because I just can't stand the thought of taking drugs. That's what ADHD and ADD meds are, drugs. I don't want to be anything like my mom." Ruby said as she moved her hand away from Sapphire and placed it on her belly.

"Did your mom take drugs?" Sapphire asked, Ruby nodded, sighed deeply as she did so. Sapphire moved herself down again and embraced Ruby, whispered in her ear:

"Sorry." Ruby laughed nervously.

"It's OK Sapphire. You can ask me about anything you want." She said, Sapphire hugged her tighter.

"I'm glad you came." She said.

"Me too. I guess I understand you a little bit better now." Ruby replied. Sapphire lifted her head away from her side, and faced her instead.

"Same here." She said and smiled. She seemed to be her normal self again. Ruby grinned to her, tilted her head, and relaxed the muscles in her face. Sapphire leaned in and they kissed once more. Their lips touched gently as they breathed lightly into each other's mouths. Her lips were soft and moist, like nibbling hot soft ice, if that was even possible. Sapphire moved her hands up to Ruby's hair, buried her long thin fingers into it. Massaged her scalp gently as they kissed. Ruby still had her hands on Sapphire's back, she pressed her hands against her shoulder blades. Their lips still met just barely, Ruby had to lean in further to kiss her harder and open her mouth a little. Sapphire's fingers pressed gently at just the right spots on her head, Ruby moaned weakly. She opened her eyes and saw Sapphire smiling at her, she blushed. Then she leaned in and kissed Ruby hard. They opened their mouths and let their tongues find their sweet mellow rhythms again. Let them dance the slippery slope into hot nothingness. Ruby had closed her eyes, and moved her arms from her back, embracing the back of her neck.

Ruby lifted herself up and made Sapphire ley down instead. Turned it all around. Sapphire had placed herself a bit more to the side of the jacket. Let Ruby completely cover her as they kissed deeply. Their tongues twisted about, parted and reunited again and again in-between their lips. Ruby felt her face growing hot and her heart beating fast. Sapphire stroked her back fast, seemed to really be getting into it. Ruby smiled to herself as she released and started nibbling on Sapphire's earlobe. Licked her down her neck and started kissing it.

"Mmh, Ruby. There's something under here." She said and turned her head to the side. One of her hands had been removed from Ruby's back. She looked up as Sapphire fabled with something on her side. Ruby looked over, understood the pocket of her jacket was on the other side.

"Oh, right." She said as she exhaled deeply. She smiled and blushed as she leaned over Sapphire and unzipped the pocket, dragged her cellphone out of it. She looked at the time, sighed.

"I have to leave in about eight minutes." She said, Sapphire immediately dragged her into a tight embrace.

"Noo." She said and kissed the side of her face. Ruby giggled.

"I have to, Mona said if I didn't get my ass back in half an hour you wouldn't be allowed to come over later." Ruby leaned back and they faced each other, Sapphire sighed.

"Oh, OK." She said. She looked sad. Ruby leaned in, kissed her on the lips.

"And then I'll come back in like four hours, and then we're gonna dress up and play around." She said, Sapphire giggled.

"Go trick or treating even. If we're not too old." Sapphire said in-between kisses.

"I couldn't care less about that." Ruby commented.

"I know." Said Sapphire. They grew silent and kissed slower for a little while. Then they opened their mouths again and made out. Ruby played with the tip of her tongue, grabbed both sides of Sapphire's face and pressed her cheeks together. Sapphire giggled, Ruby laughed too.

"You're so cute when you laugh." She said. Sapphire responded by leaning in and kissing her harder. Ruby moved herself to the side, made it so that the both of them lay on their sides. They embraced as they continued kissing. Sapphire gently bit at her lip, Ruby grabbed her head and giggled in Sapphire's bite. Her own body was so hot it almost felt like a fever. There was something about the great contrast between now and from seemingly moments before. Sapphire had been so sad, now she was so happy. Did I do that? She thought. Sapphire moved her arm tighter around Ruby over her shoulder. Ruby pressed her hand against Sapphire's hip, they kissed again and she moaned weakly. It was the best sound she had made all day.

Behind Sapphire's back Ruby had placed her cellphone. She removed her hand from her hip and grabbed the phone, looked at the watch as she kissed the sides of Sapphire's face. Sapphire moved her head down and kissed her neck, it felt so good. Ruby shut her eyes hard, dreaded the thought of leaving, but it was time to go. Ruby sighed, leaned back.

"I have to go now Saffy." She said.

"Noo." Sapphire whispered while she leaned in and hugged her.

"Yes." Ruby replied, she got herself on her stiff legs and Sapphire got up aswell. She picked up Ruby's jacket and gave it to her. Ruby put it on, found her scarf and gloves and hat on the floor. Picked it up and put them on as well. The gloves she buried in both pockets, then she grabbed Sapphire's hand.

"Come." She said, unlocked the door and opened it. She could tell Sapphire felt uneasy. Her eye widened a bit and her facial expression became more expressionless. This was what anxiety looked like on her face. Ruby sighed. Kissed her on the cheek, walked forward still holding her hand. She looked straight forward, Ruby did too. The few teens from before were there still. They all seemed to wear trendy clothes, two boys and tree girls. They stared at them as they walked closer to them. Sapphire moved herself closer to Ruby, and Ruby put her arm behind Sapphire's back. Ruby gave them a stern look as she and Sapphire passed them by in a hurry. They seemed to be followed by the teens' gazes. They walked down the tiny staircase going down to the main entree. Many glass doors beside each other. The bleach white light still came from the outside. Ruby stopped by the door, turned her back to it and looked at Sapphire. She could spot a few heads poking from the floor above, staring at them. Ruby sighed, grabbed Sapphire's arm carefully.

"See you in a while Laughy Saffy." She said and moved her hand to the door handle. Sapphire moved closer, lifted her hand and placed it on Ruby's cheek. Let the tips of their noses meet.

"Thank you so much Ruby. You don't know how amazing you are." She whispered.

"Sure I do." Ruby joked a bit louder and smiled, Sapphire smiled back. Moved her head closer and kissed her gently on the lips. They kissed like they did before, tenderly, carefully, passionately. Ruby tilted her head, moved her hand from Sapphire's arm to her waist. Her other arm was still on the door handle, just barely touching it with the tip of her fingers. They released, Sapphire bit her own lower lip gently. Her lips were so sexy.

"You're making it really hard to leave." Ruby said. Sapphire giggled silently, whispered:

"Sorry. You better go."

"Yeah." Ruby replied, leaned in for one last kiss. A long closed one, pressed hard against Sapphire's wet lips. Then they released for the last time, and Ruby pushed the door out. Smiled to Sapphire one last time and walked out. The door closed behind her, cold struck her face. She squinted as she out her gloves on. And she suddenly felt so very alone.

* * *

Sapphire stood by the closed door until she saw Ruby walk out of sight. She had walked to the side, so she was gone pretty quickly. Sapphire had felt so good, now she felt alone again. She heard footsteps from the floor above, sighed as she turned around. She made sure her bangs covered her eyes and started walking slowly. She did feel a little better, but the anxiety didn't fade away just because Ruby was here, sadly. She walked up the small open staircase, the teens were still there. They leaned against the electric oven and stared at her in silence. She turned, was about to continue walking up the second staircase when she heard them yelling:

"You're lesbians right!?" A boy shouted. Sapphire stopped for a second, then continued slowly.

"Hey!" A girl yelled, Sapphire started walking faster. Felt the panic increasing in her spine. She shut both of her hands as she hurried up the stairs. She walked into the blue door as fast as she could. Lunch hadn't ended just yet, students joked around and laughed, talked and sat by each other's desks. Ate and drank from water bottles. They all brought lunches with them, as any other Norwegian. But they got fruit from the school. Today they got bananas, some of the boys threw it on each other, stepped on it and laughed. Sapphire walked past one squeezed banana on the floor. Nobody talked to her or even said her name, and she wanted it to stay that way. She sat down by her desk, her school books were still open from the class she had left in. She should have used the little time she had eating before classes started again. But she wasn't hungry. She never was when she had anxiety. And lately, with Ruby, she hadn't been much hungry either. So instead, she leaned forward over her text books. Found the one she had written down notes on, and doodled. A stick figure soon became Ruby with her afro hair and headband. She felt better, thought of making the doodle into a temporary tattoo. Sticking it to her own body for comfort. Those one buys at kiosks on vacation as a kid.

She had a memory of her and Ola, him being a very small child. He wanted one, and they sat in a car. He nagged her about it and she gave in, found one in a plastic bag and removed two thin pieces of plastic from one another. One of them were sticky, and had a tattoo of a flaming heart on it. She put it to Ola's arm, bent over him and licked it. Normally one would put a wet piece of paper over it. But they had nothing. They waited a little while and the piece of plastic came off, some of the tattoo came along with it. It became ruined, Ola wasn't pleased. Sapphire imagined Ruby giving her the stick figure tattoo of herself, attaching it to her neck, and licking it. There would be more tattoos, they would be put all over her body. And Ruby would have to lick them all in place. Then she would kiss her lips. Sapphire smiled to herself and blushed, drew over the lines of her doodle. She sighed and smiled wider, leaned her head on her hand with her elbow on her desk. She made muscles on the stick figure, drew Ruby's typical clothes on it. Made her beefy legs, she drew a big smile. An evil grin.

"Hey." Someone said from her side. Sapphire looked up, panicked for a second. It was one of the boys in her class, Artur. He had dark blond hair, looked like a pre-pubescent kid. He was much like her, quiet, she knew he was bullied too.

"Hello." She said. They had been in the same class for a year and never spoken to one another. She hadn't spoken to anyone.

"What are you drawing?" He asked with a thin voice. He didn't seem to mean no harm, didn't prevent her from internally screaming through.

"I .. um, Nothing." She said and leaned a bit forward, intending to hide the drawing with her body and hands.

"It looks like someone who used to go here. Ruby, you know her?" He asked. He sat on the desk beside hers, the desks were placed pretty close to one another. They only sat a meter apart from each other.

"Yeah, she's my.. Friend." Sapphire answered. "Did you know her?" She asked. The boy laughed a short laugh, as if he remembered something funny.

"Well no, she was in 8A. But she defended me once." He said with a smile. Sapphire leaned back, let him look at her doodle.

"Really? What happened?" She asked.

"Oh, just some boys from grade 10, when I was in grade 8. They were gonna.. But she came and defended me, they did it to her instead." He said with a serious face, then he started smiling. A thin little smile, reminded her of Ola a little bit.

"She's the only one who did that. I'll never forget it." He said, stared at her drawing.

"I never did see her smile." He said and laughed. "She was always so mad." Sapphire smiled.

"Yeah" She said, thought back to how mad Ruby seemed to be when she spied on her. She was probably very unhappy. So she didn't lie when she said she would defend her, she'd even do it for a stranger.

The teacher entered the classroom and the students turned quieter as she spoke. Artur turned to his desk again and looked forward. As the teacher spoke Sapphire looked down at her doodle. Touched it with her index finger. What an amazing person you are Ruby, she thought to herself.

* * *

Sapphire walked out of the school in-between hoops of teenagers. She walked down the stairs and went to the wall. There were two sets of benches placed against it. She put her backpack off and placed it on one of the benches, sat down. In the crowd before her she saw Artur staring at her, he then turned around and walked up to her. He was so tiny.

"Hi." He said, seemed nervous for some reason. Sapphire had leaned on her side and bent over her backpack, she opened it and put her hand inside. Tried not to make eye contact.

"Hello." She said. She found her book, this time one of the Lord of the rings books. She opened it with her cold bare hands. It damped from her mouth, he looked around himself.

"So you like to read?" He asked.

"Yup." She answered quickly.

"Can I sit with you?" He asked again.

".. Sure." She said, got the feeling he wanted something from her. She recognized his nervousness, had seen it in Ruby. The short boy sat himself down two meters away from her.

"Soo.." He said. "Do you like video games?"

"No." She replied and looked down in her book. She could feel the anxiety waving underneath the ocean of her couscous thoughts. She sighed weakly.

"So umm. What kind of guys are you into anyway?" He asked, Sapphire took one look at him and giggled. Boys?

"I don't have an answer for that sorry." She said.

"So you haven't decided?" He asked again, he didn't seem to take the hint.

"There is nothing to decide." She replied.

"So you don't care about what they look like?" He asked again, Sapphire sighed as she closed her book. She looked over at him.

"What do you want?" She asked, mildly irritated. She considered telling him she was a lesbian, but was scared he'd tell the whole school.

"Nothing, I just.. You're kinda pretty that's all."

"Oh, well. Thanks. But I'm kinda taken, sorry." She said. Maybe word had spread about her and Ruby from the hallway earlier? If not today, then someday soon. Would it hurt to tell him so he wouldn't think her rejection had anything to do with him? What if it spread to mom? She thought. I can't think like that. She somehow thought he's see through her. Somehow he'd know. She expected him to insult her, any moment now.

"Of course you are." He said and sighed. "I bet he's big and strong." The thought amused her, she smiled.

"Well, actually.." She said, was interrupted by a voice coming from not too far away. She had been looking at Artur this whole time, now she turned her head.

"EEYY Sapphire!" Ruby yelled. "Got yourself a boyfriend over there!?" She yelled a bit louder. She stopped midway and laughed loudly. Sapphire got up, put down her book and yelled back:

"Hey!" She giggled, walked up to her and hugged her tightly. She felt Ruby kissing the side of her neck a few times. She sighed in her embrace and smiled. She finally relaxed. They met each other's eyes and Ruby stroked her back.

"I seriously left you for three hours of watching a stupid German movie." Ruby joked with a grudge. Sapphire giggled.

"It was sooo hard to just sit there you have no idea." Ruby continued, she leaned in and gave Sapphire a long motionless kiss on the lips. After, Sapphire turned around and saw Artur sitting there on the bench with his mouth wide open. Ruby laughed loudly at the sight.

"He-heeey! What's the big deal?" Ruby shouted. Artur closed his mouth, stood up.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." He said fast, shock both of his tiny hands in midair.

"It's ok." Sapphire said, she turned to Ruby and said: "He was asking me what kind of boys I liked and stuff." Ruby laughed.

"And what did you say?" She asked. Sapphire went over to her backpack as she replied:

"I said I didn't have the answer to that." Ruby laughed again, seemed to be in a really good mood. Sapphire smiled to her as she laughed while she put her book back into her backpack and put it over her shoulder.

"He also said I was pretty." She continued as she walked up to Ruby again. Ruby took a good hold of her back and pulled her close while she looked over at Artur.

"I know right?" She said with a smirk. Sapphire felt herself blushing, she looked down as she smiled.

"Umm, Artur was telling me about how you stood up for him a long time ago." She said with a timid voice. Artur took a step forward, closer to them.

"I did what now?" Said Ruby.

"Don't you remember?" Asked Artur, Ruby smiled.

"That happens like all the time, sorry." She said. Then she looked over at Sapphire.

"Too many people to remember." She said and giggled. Sapphire felt the blush increasing. She stood up for people on a regular basis? She still does? Sapphire thought. She started smiling, Ruby noticed as Artur spoke:

"Oh, OK. Thanks anyway. I never forgot."

"You're welcome." Ruby replied and smiled. Sapphire leaned in on her, kissed her cheek.

"You're so amazing Ruby." She whispered in her ear just loud enough for even herself to hear. But Ruby heard and turned to her, smiled. Then she looked over at Artur again.

"We've got to go. Bye now." She said while being amused.

"OK, bye.." He said. They turned around and started walking. Sapphire grabbed her hand. Then Ruby stopped, looked back.

"Don't tell anyone, OK?" She said.

"I won't." Artur said. Ruby looked at Sapphire again, started walking.

"Looks like you got yourself a little admirer." She whispered. Sapphire smiled.

"Looks like you got yourself a fan." She teased; Ruby chuckled and pressed at her hand.

"Looks like you got yourself a bodyguard." She whispered, looked behind herself to see if he was still there. He wasn't. Sapphire giggled.

"Looks like you got yourself a groupie." She continued, Ruby bent over herself and laughed hard.

"Looks like.. Looks like you got yourself a.. a new little brother." She said as she shocked in her laugh. Sapphire smacked her on her back.

"Ruby!" She yelled, looked around herself. "Don't be rude." She said and smiled. Ruby giggled and looked at her. Grew silent and walked with a smile on her face.

"It's good to see you happy Saffy." She said as she put her arm over Sapphire's shoulder. Their heads were not far apart. Sapphire looked at her and smiled, blushed.

"I'm only happy because you're here." She commented. Ruby laughed, kissed her on the cheek.

"That's good to know." She stated and held Sapphire a little closer.

* * *

Ruby walked up the staircase of her house first, got the keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door. Nobody seemed to be home, Sapphire sighed with relief. Ruby took her hand and followed her in, closed the door behind them. The room was dark, Ruby turned on the lights. The room, like before, was small and worm and filled to the brim with hanging clothing and shoes on the floor. Mona and Hank weren't the cleanest of people, a nice contrast to her own seemingly sterile home. She smiled to herself as she dressed off. She was a little tempted to clean it all, and organize it. But found it to be a bit more cozy this way.

She and Ruby walked into the living room. Light shone through all the windows and dust danced it the sunrays. It was so empty, no sounds, no parents. She looked around as she yawned. She had had her guard up all day. Now she could finally relax. Ruby still held her hand, dragged her towards the coach.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. It was so sweet how much she cared, Sapphire smiled as they sat down in the couch.

"I'm fine, just a little tired that's all." She replied and grabbed Ruby's hand. It was really worm.

"So I guess you weren't joking around when you said you'd defend me." She continued.

"I would never joke about that." Ruby replied with a smile, leaned in closer to her.

"But I'm not this amazing hero walking around defending the weak, being all kind and nice and sweet." She said.

"Oh?" Said Sapphire.

"Yeah, it's more like: I walk around super angry and happens to stumble upon bullies beating some kid up or calling them bad shit and I just can't stand that anybody else but me get to experience that. Like, it just happens." She said, looked around herself, then she lowered her head and looked down.

"I guess it's a good thing I defend others, but I hate it when I get like that. There's no limit and that's scary. I get so angry I see red, if that makes sense." Said Ruby and sighed deeply.

"It still doesn't change the way I look at you." Said Sapphire softly. Ruby gave away a short tight laugh.

"You wouldn't say that if you ever saw me like that." She said, still avoiding eye contact. Sapphire grabbed her other hand too, held them together.

"After today, do you think of me differently?" She asked.

"No?" Ruby replied. She kept looking down.

"Then why do you think it's different with me?" She asked. Ruby looked up.

"But this is different." Said Ruby.

"It doesn't feel different to me. You still saw a side of me that I hate." Sapphire stated a bit louder.

"But you're not a horrible person for having panic attacks!" Ruby yelled. Sapphire could tell Ruby was about to cry up. She sighed deeply, stopped herself from shouting back.

"You're not a horrible person." She said calmly. Ruby looked away, grunted.

"Look at you. You're about to cry over hitting back at people who hurt you or others. You feel guilty, horrible people don't feel guilty." Said Sapphire. Ruby turned her head, looked her in the eyes.

"You're wrong. They do. For every hit they hit, they cry about it. They know it's bad." Ruby said, then she got a lump in her throat.

"But they do it again." She said. Sapphire looked at her a she put her head in her hands. Tried to understand what she was saying, she didn't. Instead she opened her now free arms and hugged Ruby tightly from the side.

"Oh Ruby." She said. They hugged tightly. Ruby rested her head on Sapphire's shoulder, said:

"I'm sorry I get like this. You're probably really tried. I didn't mean to.." She sniffed.

"No no, it's fine. I don't mind." Sapphire said calmly.

"It's just that.. I haven't had anyone praise me or look up at me or anything because of those horrible actions, it's not fair. It's like the only side people see of me is this destructive angry machine ready to either destroy or defend other people with violence." Ruby said, she had calmed herself down again. Spoke softly.

"Or how about a beautiful emotional and clever person with a good sense of humor?" Said Sapphire as she smiled to herself. Ruby sat herself back, their embrace became loose. Ruby started her in the eye, her eyes were blank. Light from the windows reflected in them, it was beautiful.

"You still think of me like that? After everything I told you?" Ruby asked. She had a hint of a smile over her pretty little mouth. Sapphire nodded enthusiastically as she smiled.

"I can see it in your eyes, you're so good. If the day comes that I see this side of you that you hate so much, I'll be like you were today, with me. I'll still want to be your girlfriend." Sapphire said, smiled and blushed. Ruby lit up.

"You seriously want to be my girlfriend?" Ruby asked and widened her eyes.

"Of course silly." Sapphire said and rolled her eyes for a second, then she looked at Ruby again. She still had tears in her eyes, but smiled her wide and beautiful smile. Her white teeth seemed to shine in the sunlight, her dark skin glowed.

"I'd like that too." She said.

"I knew you would." Sapphire stated, Ruby giggled. They leaned in on one another once more, this time letting their lips meet gently. As their lips dragged themselves over one another they leaned backwards. Sapphire moved herself over Ruby, released and grabbed a good hold of her head. Kissed both of her cheeks as Ruby closed her eyes hard and giggled weakly. She could taste a hint of her salty tears. They lay themselves on the couch with faces inches apart, kissed again. Ruby seemed to reach for something over herself, and quickly dragged a knitted blanket from somewhere beside the coach. Sapphire kissed her jaw and neck as Ruby dragged the blanket over their bodies which lay close together. When she was done she started kissing Sapphire's neck and shoulder as they hugged each other tightly again. Sapphire lay over her and could feel Ruby's chest breathing against her own. Her body grew as hot as her face. Ruby held her tightly over her back, she sighed deeply, then she yawned.

"You can take a nap if you want." Ruby said in her ear.

"Won't that be boring for you?" Replied Sapphire with another yawn.

"Naah." Ruby answered as she started stroking Sapphire's back under the blanket. She pressed her nose against Sapphire's neck, smelled her in another sigh. Sapphire closed her eyes and felt the gentle strokes on her back. Made by such strong worm hands, yet the strokes were so tender and careful. Sapphire smiled, yawned again. She had her head in a dark pocket between the corner of the coach and Ruby's shoulder and neck. She had longed for this safe feeling all day. It was hard to think Ruby thought she was so bad and dangerous when she without a doubt was so safe and gentle. Fast moving images started forming beneath her eyelids. She faded into the darkness and Ruby's hands stroking her back faded too.

* * *

For a while Ruby had just been laying there, staring up at the ceiling. Held Sapphire close to herself while she slept. Her rhythmic breaths had blown in her ear as she smiled to herself. Ruby had just broken down, and after Sapphire had wanted them to become girlfriends. It seemed unbelievable. But it had happened, it was true. And they were girlfriends now, they were together. She had never thought anybody would ever like her like that. But Sapphire did. And now she was sleeping on top of her. Those kind of thoughts filled her mind for a long while until she started believing them, and relaxed. She had closed her eyes as well, and faded into a beautiful dream.


	6. Chapter 6 Safety

boltsofacceptance . tumblr . com

* * *

Trigger warning: Anxiety, sexual assault, homophobia. Adult content: Sex.

* * *

A door opened in the distance, but awoke her in a flash. Ruby lifted her head up a bit for a second, then she realized where she was and lay her head down again. Sapphire was still in top of her and she started moving her head slightly. Sapphire moved her arms and tightened her grip on her, which in turn made her smile while the bright light still shone from the windows, Ruby squinted.

"We're home!" Mona yelled. Ruby heard her muted voice through another door, and it soon opened. Footsteps walked across the hallway and into the livingroom. While another set of footsteps walked to the bathroom in the hallway and locked themself in. Mona stopped in the doorway as she saw them, had her phone in her hand. She seemed to jump a bit.

"Oh hello." She said. Ruby smiled to her while she felt Sapphire turning her head the other way, facing the couch itself. Ruby sighed, felt exposed for some reason.

"Hi." She said while she still squinted.

"Only us old folks take afternoon naps ya know." Mona said and laughed.

"Yeah I know." Ruby responded. Sapphire turned her head.

"Actually, teenagers do need a lot of sleep, since their brains are developing so rapidly." She said softly. Mona seemed to be a bit shocked by this statement and didn't know what to say. She just smiled and said:

"Yes I guess so." Ruby on the other hand just smiled. Mona put her phone down on the coffee table and sighed. Then she looked at them, seemed unsure of what to do. Ruby picked up on it, said:

"I told her that I told you, by the way."

"Oh, good." Mona responded and smiled. She sat herself down on a smaller coach beside them and looked down at her knees for a second.

"Ya know.." She said. "Sapphire. When I was a bit older than you I had a friend who had terrible social anxiety. It's a long time ago and there were a lot of misconceptions around the subject. But he made it through, and now he lives with his wife and has adult children and has a good job and everything. It's hard, but if he can do it, so can you." She looked straight forward while she spoke, her blue eyes glowed like the ocean. Then she looked at them, smiled weakly with her slim mouth. Her face had wrinkles, and her eyes were wise and knowing. Ruby smiled to her, the she looked over at Sapphire's face right beside hers. Sapphire looked at Mona, had moved her hand and placed it on one of Ruby's collar bones.

She sat herself up, rubbed her eyes while her hair brushed over her face. Ruby still lay down on her back.

"You did it today," Ruby said. Sapphire let her arms fall to her sides loosely. She smiled weakly while most of her face was covered with her big blond hair.

"Yeah." She whispered. The bleak sunlight lit up from behind her, made her strains of blond hairs glow like gold. Ruby blushed, lifted her hand and touched Sapphire cheek. As she stroked it Mona got up and walked out of the room, went into the kitchen.

"Can we go upstairs?" Sapphire asked. Ruby nodded and sat up. Sapphire got on her legs and stepped on the floor. She walked around the coffee table as Ruby got on her feet as well and walked around on the other side. They walked into the hallway and then into the small hallway where all the clothes were. Their backpacks were still there on the floor, and they grabbed them. They walked into the hallway again and Ruby saw Mona opening the fridge and looking inside. As they reached the stairs the bathroom door was unlocked and Hank walked out of the door. Ruby walked up the stairs first, Sapphire second. They reached the top without saying a word and walked into her bedroom. Sapphire closed the door behind her as Ruby turned on the lights. Sapphire lay herself down on Ruby's bed as she yawned and stretched her arms. Ruby lay down beside her and put her arm over her upper body.

"Still tired?" She asked. Sapphire nodded and smiled a bit. "Did it help that Mona said that?" Ruby asked further. Sapphire nodded again.

"Yes." She said. "And she's right, although it doesn't always feel like it." Ruby smiled, moved her head over Sapphire's. Sapphire lifted both of her hands and held Ruby's face gently. Her hands were cold.

"We're girlfriends now." She said and smiled. Ruby giggled weakly.

"Yeah, we are." She leaned in and kissed her lips, as she did Sapphire moved her hands off her face and placed them behind her head. They opened their mouths right away and let their wet tongues meet. Ruby noticed that Sapphire's body trembled slightly, she released and looked at her.

"Are you feeling OK?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit cold when I am tired." Sapphire replied. Ruby moved herself off her, grabbed the messy covers on the bed. They moved themselves under the covers and Ruby pulled it completely over them.

"Better?" She asked, Sapphire nodded and smiled. She pushed Ruby to herself again and kissed her. Ruby moved herself over Sapphire and could feel her locking her legs around her own. Ruby blushed as they made out once more, and moved one of her hands into Sapphire hair. Twinned her fingers in her long locks. Sapphire's face weren't as cold as her hands, thankfully.

She played with the tip of Sapphire's tongue, felt her smiling inside the kiss. Then they kissed deeply and found their hot rhythm while Sapphire pushed her closer even harder. Ruby's other hand moved to one of Sapphire's thighs that has been locked around her, moved her hand underneath her knee and pushed it slightly up on her side. They released for a second and looked at each other while their nose tips just barely met. They smiled, Ruby saw a faint pink blush in her cheeks.

"You did so well today." Whispered Sapphire. Ruby tilted her head. "I mean, at school. When I had a panic attack. You did SO well, thank you." Ruby giggled.

"Did my reaction to you going through that shock you that much?" She asked. Sapphire smiled with her teeth, sighed deeply and nodded.

"It's just.. I always thought if anyone saw they would.. I donno, mock me?" She said. Ruby removed her hand from her leg and moved her hand up to her face. Moved some of her bangs out of the way, looked at her.

"I will never mock you." Ruby mumbled. Sapphire smiled as Ruby moved her fingers gently over her nose, then she stroked her cheek, and moved her hand down to her jaw.

"Well with you it was more like.. I was scared it would be a deal breaker." She said. Ruby giggled close to her face.

"Why would it be that? You had already told me about your anxiety." Asked Ruby.

"Yeah I know. But I was still scared." Sapphire responded and sighed. Ruby smiled, said:

"Don't be. I don't mind." Sapphire looked up at her, stared her in the eyes. One of her eyes moves, the other did not. It was strange how fast she got used to it. Sapphire smiled and leaned in and kissed her again. Turned her body to the side as her legs still wrapped Ruby's lower body. Made it so that they both lay on their sides. Sapphire wrapped her right arm around Ruby's back and stroked it as they gave each other many closed kisses. Then they opened their mouths again and sighed into each other's lips. Their tongues danced while Ruby closed her eyes. Felt hot streams going up her spine as they kissed faster and deeper. Sapphire moved her hand down Ruby's back, close to her butt, and pulled her hand under Ruby's sweater. Touched her skin with her ice cold hand. Ruby squeaked.

"AAH Sapphire, your hand is so cold!" She said with wide eyes. Sapphire giggled, moved her hand up to Ruby's shoulder blades, stroked her cold hand against her warm skin. Ruby squeaked again, Sapphire laughed louder. Ruby giggled too as she twisted her upper body slightly.

"Why are your hands so god damn cold!?" Ruby yelled, Sapphire giggled, said:

"Welcome to this relationship!" Ruby grabbed Sapphire's arm and removed it from her back while Sapphire giggled. Ruby found her other hand and pushed them together in-between them. Put both of her big warm hands around them and rubbed them gently.

"Who knew those cute small hands would be a trap!" She yelled. Sapphire smiled, pushed her hands out of Ruby's and moved them on her shoulders, pushed them under her sweater over her neck.

"Sapphire!" Ruby yelled, Sapphire laughed out loud.

"It's a trap!" She yelled. Ruby placed her head against Sapphire's neck and giggled.

"NOO!" She placed one of her hands against Sapphire's ribs and started tickling her. Sapphire let out a strong loud laugh as she started twisting. Her grip around Ruby loosened and she lifted her chin, closed her eyes.

"You're cheating!" She yelled.

"Welcome to THIS relationship!" Ruby yelled and laughed. Sapphire laughed even more. Ruby moved her head even closer to Sapphire neck and kissed her hard as Sapphire still laughed. Ruby stopped tickling her and began to lick her neck, Sapphire calmed down and sighed again. Then Ruby kissed her way up to Sapphire lips again and inserted her tongue in-between her big lips. Sapphire tilted her head and kissed her back, pulled her hands up to the back of Ruby's head and held it hard. They faded into an automatic rhythm and Ruby felt her entire body getting warmer. It went on and on, made her blush as her heart beat faster. I could do this forever, she thought to herself. She nipped at Sapphire's lower lip still with her eyes closed. Felt Sapphire's breath brush against her mouth as she moaned weakly. Ruby kissed her lips again, licked her teeth for a second before letting their tongues dance once more. Ruby moved herself slightly up, placed her knees on both sides of Sapphire's hips. Bent over her, she didn't stop kissing her for a second. Sapphire moved her hands up her back again, under her sweater. But they weren't as cold now, it felt good. The hot waves went up her spine again and she sighed, released for a second. Sapphire bit her lower lip gently, then she started kissing her jaw. She found her ear lobe underneath Ruby's tight culls and started nipping at it. Then she started licking it and moved slowly to her neck. As she did she started stroking her back in such a way it felt more like a massage. It felt so good. Sapphire started licking her neck more widely as her hands pressed against her back muscles, made Ruby moan weakly again.

"Sapphire." She whispered. Started kissing the very top of her forehead, right at her hairline. She moved away some more hair, wrapped her head in one of her arms. Sapphire began to push Ruby to the side, and before she knew it, Sapphire was the one on top. She pushed Ruby's arms over her head and smiled to her. Ruby blushed so hard it must have showed. Sapphire's hair hung down over her shoulders again, would have tickled Ruby's upper arms if they were bare. Sapphire had a relaxed face, and she smiled with her mouth closed.

"You're so beautiful Ruby." She said. Ruby gave away a short laugh, almost apologetic. Sapphire leaned down and kissed her gently on her lips. They released. The covers had been pushed off them.

"You're not as cold anymore." Ruby said. Sapphire giggled.

"I guess you could say your hotness is contagious." She responded. Ruby laughed.

"Apparently my gayness is contagious too!" She said and laughed. Sapphire giggled, moved her head down and went straight to her neck. Let go of Ruby's hands over her head. She kissed her neck for a little while, this time a bit more gently. Ruby had closed her eyes, but opened them when she felt Sapphire lips and nose brush against her sweater going further down. She looked down at Sapphire's head as it gently moved over her collar bones, then down to her chest. She moved her head from side to side for a second a few times over her breasts, tucked into a sports-bra underneath the sweater. Then she moved further down. Ruby smiled, felt Sapphire's slim hands gently move under her sweater over her soft belly.

"Is this OK?" Sapphire asked softly. She looked up at Ruby as she stopped. Ruby nodded and smiled.

"Good." Continued Sapphire. She moved the sweater off her belly, let it fold over her chest. There was another layer of clothing, a sleeveless thin sweater. She moved that one up too. Ruby could see the dark skin on her belly now, as Sapphire's smaller lighter hands stroked over it. Then she moved her head down and started kissing it gently. Her belly didn't look as fat when she was lying down, but she couldn't help but feel like she was fat anyway. Sapphire didn't seem to mind as she kissed her. Moved her hands over the very bottom of her rib cage. Ruby could feel her nipples stiffening and her groin beating slightly. This was getting way too heated than she expected.

"I.. Umm." Ruby said with a slightly shaky voice. Sapphire stopped kissing her, moved her head up.

"Are you OK?" She asked.

"Yeah, I just.. I don't want to.. Ya know.. Um, go all the way." Ruby replied.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to.. You're just so.." Said Sapphire.

"No no, it's OK. I guess I wasn't.. Sorry." Ruby said. She sat herself up, her sweaters fell over her belly again.

"Come here." She said. Sapphire sat up in front of her. Sat down on Ruby's lap.

"Let's just kiss'n stuff." Ruby said. Sapphire nodded.

"But tell me if I do something you don't like, OK?" She said. Ruby giggled.

"I will, don't worry." She said.

"Really?" Asked Sapphire.

"Yeah." Ruby replied. Sapphire moved closer to her, reached behind her back and grabbed the end of her sweater, put her now warmer hands underneath and started stroking her back. Their lips met again, Sapphire sighed deeply. But it sounded more like a sigh of relief.

"Dinner!" Hank yelled from the hallway. Sapphire stopped, moved her hands away from Ruby's back. She smiled stiffly.

"Coming!" Ruby yelled. Sapphire moved off her and stood up on the floor, walked a few steps back. Ruby got up too, grabbed her hand. Sapphire checked her out. Looked at her body, then up at her face. She smiled. Ruby blushed and smiled back. She had never felt attractive before, but she did now. She leaned in and kissed Sapphire on the cheek.

"Come on." She said and giggled for a second. She dragged her along with her, opened the door and walked through the small hallway holding her hand. But let go when they headed for the stairs. They walked down separately. Ruby felt her nervousness fading as she smelled what was for dinner.

Pasta and meatballs with homemade tomato sauce. It smelled so nice, she smiled as she saw Sapphire's beautiful blond hair move in the staircase as she walked.

They sat down, Hank brought them water as they smiled in silence. It was so odd how happy she felt during and a bit after they kissed like that. She knew she should be hungry, but she was too excited, too happy. She really wasn't hungry. They both helped themselves as Mona and Hank sat down by the table. Neither of them filled their plates to the brim. Mona looked at Ruby's plate, seemed to find it unusual. Ruby always ate a lot, and from what she knew about Sapphire she seemed to have a healthy appetite as well. Mona looked at Sapphire's plate as well, leaned her head on her hand and smiled. Maybe she got it, maybe she didn't, but she didn't say anything.

"So anything exiting happening at school today?" Hank asked. Ruby looked over at Sapphire and she looked back, then they both looked at Mona, who looked at Hank with big eyes. Then she seemed to relax, Hank must have picked up on it.

"Alright then." He said. Ate a big chunk of pasta from his fork.

"Umm, so like, it's Halloween today and we are going out and trick or treating." Ruby said after a while. Hank giggled.

"You mean with the other kinds in the neighborhood?" He teased. Mona elbowed him.

"Ow." He responded.

"That sounds like fun. Ya know, we have a box filled with costumes in the basement." Mona said.

"We do?" Ruby asked, leaned forward.

"Mhm, I can find it for you." Mona responded. Ruby yelled:

"Yes please!" She heard Sapphire giggle slightly from her side, looked over at her. Recalled their phonecall where she last spoke those words. She started giggling a little bit too. She could tell Sapphire was blushing lightly. She was so cute.

"So you're gonna stay late then?" Mona asked, looked at Sapphire. "I mean, Halloween is a late night thing right?" Sapphire nodded. Ruby watched her as she ate a few meatballs.

"Yeah I guess so. Mom said I could stay as long as I wanted." She answered.

"Oh so you're sleeping over then?" Hank asked. Sapphire lowered her head a little bit.

"Well no, I'm not allowed to." She responded quietly.

"Why not?" Mona asked. Ruby could tell she seemed to understand. Sapphire had let go of her fork and knife, and leaned her hands on both sides of her chair.

"Well.." She said. Ruby put her hand over hers below the table, stroked it gently. Sapphire looked at her with her one eye, she seemed a bit upset, but nodded slightly to her. Ruby caught on.

"Umm, her mom is kinda homophobic." Ruby said, shifted her gaze towards Mona. She sat herself back and crossed her arms.

"Really? So she doesn't know that you to are.. Ya know?" She asked. Ruby shock her head.

"No, Sapphire ain't out yet. I probably wouldn't be either if I had a mom talking like that." She responded.

"Talking like what?" Hank asked. Ruby could feel herself growing tense, Sapphire leaned against her shoulder and made their shoulders touch.

"Umm.." Ruby said, moved her chair a little bit closer to her. Sapphire leaned in closer. She seemed to only look down. Ruby was sure if she didn't want this conversation to take place she would say something, right?

"She thinks lesbians are brutal and violent and hypersexual." Ruby finally responded. "And she kind of thinks that I'm a bad person who only hangs out with Sapphire to get in her pants.. Or something.." She continued, and sighed.

"Hm." Mona said firmly still with her arms crossed.

"I'll tell her.. One day." Sapphire mumbled. She gave away a deep sigh, then turned her head towards Ruby. Their eyes met, she looked very uncomfortable. Ruby let go of Sapphire's hand and grabbed her own plate. Sapphire did the same with hers. Neither of their plates were empty.

"Thanks for the food, it was really good." She said in a hurry. They stood up, Sapphire a bit more quietly than Ruby.

"Yes, thank you. It was wonderful." She said still with a low head.

"You're welcome." Hank responded. He must have been the one cooking it. They placed their plates on the counter and walked off. Ruby walked up the stairs first, heard Sapphire step behind her. She felt as if she had said something wrong. The second she reached the very top of the stairs she turned around to Sapphire who came right behind her.

"I'm sorry if I said something wrong, or.. Or." She said quickly. Sapphire walked up to her and hugged her, whispered:

"It's OK. You did well. I guess it is better they know so if they meet mom one day they won't say anything to her." Ruby hugged her tightly in return and sighed with relief.

"That's good." She said. They released, walked into the bedroom again. The lights were still on. Sapphire sat down in her bed. Ruby found a space close to her. She put her hand on Sapphire's knee.

"Hey.. " She said. "Have you thought about what you want to dress up as?"

"I donno. A hetrosexual maybe?" Sapphire responded with a little smile. Ruby burst out in laughter.

"Haha! Good luck with that!" She said as she lifted her hand from Sapphire's knee and hit her own knee hard with her palm.

"You could look like anyone." She continued while still giggling.

"Yeah?" Sapphire said, she smiled wider. She leaned a bit closer to Ruby.

"Then I could dress exactly like I do now right?" She asked. Ruby nodded.

"You do look like a straight girl, I guess. Even though anyone can look like anyone." She said. Sapphire moved even closer to her, looked down at her lips. Ruby started blushing again.

"You know what you look like?" Sapphire asked gently.

"What?" Whispered Ruby.

"You look like you're being yourself." She responded. Ruby smiled, moved even closer to her face.

"Aren't you?" She asked. Sapphire shock her head gently.

"Most of the time I'm not." Sapphire responded. Ruby moved her hand up to her face, moved her bangs out of the way. Let her hand rest close to her ear.

"How about right now?" She asked. She could feel her body heating up. It was a warmth she had grown very fond of, and she only felt it with Sapphire.

Sapphire smiled, nodded and whispered:

"Yeah." Ruby smiled back.

"I knew it." She said and smiled. Sapphire giggled. Ruby leaned in and let their lips touch gently as she closed her eyes.

"Mmmh." Said Sapphire while she leaned her head more to the side. Opened her mouth and let her tongue slip between Ruby's lips. She could feel Sapphire's arms wrapping around her back, close to her waist. She leaned a bit forward and made Ruby lean slightly back. Her bangs fell over her eyes again. Ruby stopped kissing her, made an effort to remove her bangs again. Sapphire giggled.

"Don't bother." She said.

"You're eyes are beautiful, I wanna see them." Ruby whispered still with her hand over Sapphire's bangs. Sapphire smiled to her.

"Thank you." She said. She leaned in and kissed her much harder this time. As if to tell her the same thing. Ruby got lost in the kiss right away and felt Sapphire press their chests together from Ruby's back. Their noses were neatly placed right beside one another. Ruby could feel her breathing from both her chest and nose. Could feel the heat of her blush from her cheek pressed against her own nose tip. Ruby started caressing her hair, again close to her ear.

Sapphire released, whispered:

"You're so wonderful. I can't get over it." Ruby smiled and blushed, stared at her pretty face up so close. She could see her eyelashes as she blinked. The soft expression in her eyes. The smell of her hair and breath. She was so very beautiful.

"Thank you, you sure are too Saffy." She responded.

"Hey, you took it." Said Sapphire a bit louder.

"Took what?" Asked Ruby.

"My compliment, you took it." Said Sapphire with a grin. Ruby looked down and smiled.

"Well, maybe I'm not as bad as I thought." She said. Sapphire removed her arms from Ruby's back in a flash, cupped Ruby's jaw with her hands.

"That's right. " She said. "You're not. You're the best." She had a strict yet joyful expression. Ruby knew she meant what she said. She closed her eyes and smiled as Sapphire held her head up.

"Yeah." She whispered. Sapphire leaned in on her again. Kissed her lips gently as her bangs fell over her eyes and once more tickled against Ruby's cheeks and nose bridge. She smiled as they kissed, resisted removing her bangs yet again.

She heard footsteps in the stairs, they were slower than usual. Ruby and Sapphire released. She turned around and saw that her bedroom door was still open.

"Hey girls!" Mona yelled. Ruby stood up, walked over to the door. Mona stood at the very top of the staircase and held a big light brown cardboard box.

"I found it." She said. Ruby walked into the room again and let Mona step inside through the door. She put the box on the carpet. She bent over it as she sighed.

"Here it is." She said. Ruby looked over at Sapphire who sat quietly on the bed. Her bangs covered her eye again. But she smiled at least. Mona opened the box and said:

"The other foster children LOVED dressing up so we got a little bit of everything here." She stood up and put her hands on her hips. She wore a dark green knitted sweater and blue pants. Her glasses were far down on her nose. She lifted her hand and pulled it up with her index finger.

"OK, have fun then." She said, turned around and walked out. She made sure to close the door behind her carefully. They sat themselves on each side of the box and started digging out colorful fabrics and wigs. Ruby threw it all around herself, it made Sapphire giggle. Ruby smiled, got a few ideas already. She put her hands back in the box, dug out a few smaller things, One of them was an eye patch made of dark plastic and black string.

"That's perfect!" She yelled out. "You can be a pirate!"

"I donno, shouldn't we be scary evil things?" Asked Sapphire.

"You can be an evil killer pirate then, we can make scars and shit! And some dark lipstick maybe? And we can tie scarfs all over you and over your head, belts over your chest and hips!" Ruby yelled out while she continued to dig in the box. She looked up and saw Sapphire smile broadly.

"You weren't joking when you said you were good at improvising." She said calmly.

"Of course I am. Oh and we can say you traveled from the Caribbean seas to retrieve a treasure! If anyone gets in your way you kill them and that's how you got all those scars and lost your eye!" Ruby said while she looked up and waved with her hands.

"What kind of treasure? Diamonds? Jewelry, coins?" Sapphire asked while she bent herself forward and smiled.

"Nobody knows, but the lost treasure was in fact her lover, a woman. And she is searching far and wide to find her again after she was kidnapped by a homophobic sect!" She said, Sapphire's eyes lit up. They got solid eye contact.

"Oh Ruby, you're so creative. Do you write?" Sapphire said calmly.

"Are you kidding me!? I can't concentrate for more than ten minutes tops, on a good day, no way I can write anything!" Ruby answered. Sapphire laughed. They started laughing together and Sapphire took Ruby's hand out of the box and held it gently.

"I am sure if you put your mind to it you can write some really good stories."

"One day maybe." Ruby responded and smiled.

"Now what about you? What will you be?" Asked Sapphire and widened her eye, she seemed to want Ruby to go on. Ruby smiled, looked down in the box while her hand was still held.

"Let's see." She let go of her hand, started digging through the box. She found fake Indian esc jewelry, like the ones they had on their heads over their foreheads. It didn't seem to be anything like a tsari in here but Ruby was sure she could pass for anything middle eastern. She picked up the jewelry and held it over her forehead.

"I can be a dangerous Indian princess who awoke from her slumber and ready to kill and destroy?"

"You can be Kali, but you gotta have two more arms and blue skin." Sapphire suggested.

"Kali?" Ruby asked and tilted her head.

"A Hindu goddess, the goddess of time and creation, change, preservation, destruction and empowerment. She literary wore people's heads as a necklace as if they were beads. I guess because a big aspect of life and change is death."

"I don't think we have that!" Ruby stated and laughed. Sapphire giggled.

"No but I think we can work something out." She said.

"Well, what exactly does she look like?" Sapphire stood up, looked around for a second.

"Our backpacks are downstairs." She stated. Ruby stood up too, said:

"We can search on my laptop." They went straight for it, laying so lonely on Ruby's desk. They soon opened chrome and googled Kali. A brightly colored topless woman with four arms and bright blue skin. Golden jewelry all over, black hair and a long pink tongue sticking out of her mouth. The necklace made of small seemingly freshly cut off human heads, and two bigger ones in two of her hands. Her big black hair was so poofy and big it looked like a pillow behind her. Kali.

"Wow, that's really cool. I WANT to BE her now." Said Ruby.

"I know right? She is either the wife of, or the female manifestation of the god Shiva. Almost as if she has two genders or move between them." Said Sapphire while she started at the screen only with pictures of Kali on it from google search.

"There are one or two gods in Hinduism with both kinds of genitals and even so in ancient religions like the ones in Egypt and Mesopotamia." She continued. As she spoke her eye was fixed on the screen, she smiled as she spoke and when she was done she looked over at Ruby and grinned with her teeth.

"You seem to know a lot about religion." Ruby said.

"Yeah of course. It is very interesting." Sapphire responded, she had been leaning forward but now stood up straight. She put her hands on her hips as she spoke further. Ruby looked at her, blushed.

"I mean, at first I wanted to understand Christianity more, because of mom. It was so strange how these stories from so long ago could still be told today and make such an impact on people." She said.

"Are you religious?" Asked Ruby. Sapphire giggled for half a second, then she gave off a deep sigh.

"I used to be, because mom was. But then I started reading into it and I just couldn't believe a divine being would let humanity be so awful to ourselves and do nothing. I just couldn't believe an old man sat in the sky and made an Eden, and placed a "do not touch" tree right in front of the first humans and said: Don't eat the apples on this tree." And then expect nothing to happen. But I wanted to know what was going on inside my mom's head, and wanted to know more of these old stories that were told from cultures so different from our own, and it started with Christianity, and moved to them all. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and there are even more. Everything shamanistic, the ancient religions of the stone ages where they hailed the great earth mother. The connections between the Greek religion and the Norse one. There's soo much." Answered Sapphire. As she had spoken she had stared out the window and looked at the dusk. Ruby had bent herself up and stood straight as she listened. She had been amazed by the deep thought that went into the words her girlfriend had spoken.

"You've really been reading into it huh?" She asked and moved a bit closer to her. Sapphire smiled shyly, looked at her.

"I guess when you don't have friends you gotta pass the time somehow, right?" She said, then she seemed to be caught by something, and asked with wide eyes:

"Are you blushing?" Ruby giggled.

"Maybe." She responded playfully, moved her hand on Sapphire's lower back.

"Why?" Sapphire asked and smiled.

"I like your smarts." She responded. Sapphire smiled and leaned in on her, kissed her gently on the lips.

"I like your smarts too." She said in-between two kisses.

"I'm not as smart as you." Ruby whispered. Sapphire released, put both of her hands on both sides of her face.

"What makes you say that?" She asked. Ruby felt tense, looked to the side. Sapphire was all up in her face.

"I donno, I just feel like it." She replied.

"You feel stupid?" Sapphire asked. Ruby nodded.

"Why? Because your stupid bullies have said so?" She asked again, seemed to grow a tad bit frustrated. Her gaze was serious. Ruby nodded slightly and added:

"And my mom." In timid words. Sapphire pressed harder at her cheeks.

"Oh Ruby." She said. Ruby looked at her again. She seemed concerned.

"I can tell you that you are NOT stupid, OK? You are very clever. I wouldn't even be friends with stupid people, let alone date them." Sapphire said rather passionately. Ruby only got time to respond with a smile before Sapphire leaned in and gave her a hand full of hard closed kisses. Then she released and looked at Ruby again.

"OK?" She asked. Ruby tilted her head, smiled and said:

"Yeah OK. Hey, wanna put on some music?" Sapphire nodded. They let go of one another and turned to the computer. Ruby opened youtube and looked over at Sapphire.

"We can listen to whatever you want." She said and moved over. Sapphire wrote in Enya feat Enigma on youtube's search engine, clicked on the first video that showed up. Meanwhile Ruby plugged the computer to the speakers and turned on the volume, turned it up. She stood there for a second and listened to the music.

"It sounds almost like a chant." She yelled to overpower the music. Sapphire nodded, grabbed her hand and dragged her forward while she herself walked backwards. Towards the bed, Ruby smiled. Sapphire sat down in the bed and insisted with her movements for Ruby to sit on her lap, and she did. Ruby locked her legs behind Sapphire and for a moment they embraced. Then Ruby moved herself back and a bit down, and locked lips with Sapphire. They opened their mouths and their wet tongues started massaging one another. The electronic chanting in the music filled the room as Sapphire moved her hands up under the back of Ruby's sweater and stroked her back. Ruby had both of her arms around Sapphire's head and as they kissed Sapphire leaned back and let them both fall to the bed, her with her back first. Ruby moved her feet to the side instead of behind her beck, so to move them out of the way. It seemed like her entire body covered Sapphire, and she got the feeling she liked that. She did kiss her a bit harder and deeper, and it made her backbones shiver with heat. The music seemed to cheer for all the wonderful feelings she felt, Ruby got images of colorful and sensual dancing in her head. As she did Sapphire's small cold but refreshing hands moved down her back and pressed at her butt. Ruby released, they stared at each other as loud drums and chants came from the speakers. Sapphire looked unsure for a moment, let go with one of her hands, was about to let go with her other hand. But Ruby placed her hand over it, let her hand stay. For some reason, now that Ruby had stated that she wasn't ready and Sapphire knew that, this kind of touch wasn't as dangerous. She wasn't afraid for it to lead into something more anymore, so then it was alright.

She smiled to Sapphire, and she smiled back. Leaned in again and gave her a big wet kiss. And it didn't stop. As their lips and tongues found what felt like their sacred rhythms, according to the almost trans like music, Ruby leaned to the side. They didn't stop kissing for one second, Ruby smiled to herself. Her breath went into Sapphire's mouth, and she started giggling. One of Sapphire's hands were still on her butt, the other moving up and down her back still. Ruby's body was beating with heat, so did her groin. She felt herself breathing slightly heavier than normal, this was getting really heated again. But now that Sapphire knew she was unsure, she could make the calls. So she found the bravery to move one of her legs a bit up, and her knee bent just over Sapphire's hips. It was on the leg she had been touching the buttcheek of. And the second Ruby moved her leg up Sapphire released. They made eye contact as the chants and beats and electronic pianos still could be heard. Sapphire's lips were wet and red, and so very sexy. Ruby could see her gaze move away from her eyes and down to the leg that had been moved over her side. Her hand was still over Ruby's butt, but was now slowly moving up her tight. When it reached her knee her hand stopped, Ruby could see a bright pink blush appear on Sapphire's face. As she started moving her hand slowly back down again she made eye contact with Ruby once more. One of her eyes were as always covered by her blond bangs. She bit her lower lip gently, moved her hand up Ruby's tight once more, this time a little bit harder. Ruby had never imagined that her legs with be anything but too muscly or fat to anyone. But Sapphire liked them. Am I really that attractive to you? She thought to herself. She leaned in as Sapphire stopped biting her lip. Both of her arms were still wrapped around her neck and head. She let their lips touch gently and playfully. Sapphire breathed into her mouth, her breath was shaky. Am I really turning her on? Ruby thought to herself. She smiled, almost feeling proud. She was always what one would call an unattractive girl, yet someone found her attractive enough to get turned on by her, just by kissing and close body contact. And not just anyone, but Sapphire, the prettiest girl she had ever seen. She moved one of her arms down and wrapped it around her back instead. Leaned a bit over her and kissed her hard with her open mouth.

"Mmmh." Said Sapphire from between their locked lips. Her hand still moved over her tight, and occasionally touched her buttcheek. Ruby was getting really aroused herself, and she blushed really hard. More so than usual. Sapphire's other hand moved back under her sweater again and stroked her back. But it was not cold at all. And Ruby starting moving her torso ever so gently back and forth. Her one hand stroked Sapphire's hair close to her scalp. The other stroked at her side, between her shoulder and hip. She resisted touching her boob, all though she wanted to. Didn't want her to think what she had expressed earlier didn't count anymore, because it did. They still kissed deeply and passionately, and they would do so for a few more hours.

* * *

Sapphire had gently painted her face bright blue, and her lips bright red. Put the jewelry Ruby found in the box over her forehead, put on a long straight haired black wig, and a big red cast mark on her forehead as well. Ruby had been dressed up in blue clothes, apart from an old skirt she had found in the closet, and a vest that she had stay open. Underneath it all she wore thin woolen stockings and a sweater. She found all the pearls she could and put them over her neck, and even found blue gloves. She was blue and otherwise colorful from top to toe. And even tied a bright bohemian patterned scarf around her waist. If someone knew anything about Hinduism, they sure would think she was supposed to be Kali.

Ruby had found all the scarfs she could, put Sapphire's hair up and painted a big scar going over her prostatic eye's side. And since Ruby had no idea how to put on make-up she had done her eyes and lips herself. She wore a dark brown lipstick and dark smoky eyes. Ruby had tied a nice colorful scarf over her forehead and around back, and all over her body over her blue jacket. She also, of course, put on the eye patch.

They had shown it all off to Hank and Mona, after, they had grabbed a plastic bag and walked out of the house. It was dark, the snow was gone. And it was pretty cold, but not cold enough for their clothing not to warm them just enough.

Ruby grabbed her hand in the darkness.

"So are we just gonna ring on the doors of random people and say trick or treat?" She asked. Sapphire shrugged.

"I guess so." She said. Ruby smiled, it was so strange to see her with all that make-up while she was standing in the dark. It was almost kind of scary.

"So what are we gonna do if we don't get any treats? Throw eggs?" She asked jokingly. Sapphire giggled and started swinging their hands while still holding into it.

"We aren't gonna do anything silly." She replied. They laughed a bit together.

"Damn it" Ruby said. They stopped by the nearest house, stared at it.

"How do you feel?" Ruby asked. Sapphire looked over at her. Sighed.

"I feel great." She said. "Let's do this." They nodded to each other. Sapphire held her hand a bit tighter. They walked into the lawn, walked past a lit pumpkin. Ruby rang the doorbell, and it was loud. Not soon after a woman opened the door with a bowl of candies in her hand.

"Trick or treat!" Ruby yelled, Sapphire mumbled a bit lower along with her. Ruby opened her plastic bag.

"We're sharing." She said.

"Oh." Said the lady. She had bright orange curly hair and red lipstick, rather pretty, She smiled.

"Here." She put her hand into the bowl and poured a bit into their plastic bag.

"Great costumes." She said.

"Thanks!" Ruby yelled out with a big smile. Sapphire just nodded silently to her. The woman closed the door, and they walked together out of the lawn. Sapphire sighed deeply.

"You feeling OK?" Ruby asked, stroked her back.

"I don't know, let's try one more." She replied.

"O-OK." Said Ruby. She put her hand off her back and grabbed her hand instead. Pulled at her arm, they continued walking. Sapphire could feel the lump in her throat increasing, and her stomach twisting as if she had done something terrible. She sighed.

They reached the next house, rang the doorbell. As they waited and heard footsteps come from within the house, Sapphire felt the fear increasing. The door opened, agony filled her being.

"Trick or treat!" Ruby yelled out and smiled, Sapphire stayed completely silent.

A man stood in the door with a two yearold tugging at his leg. He also had a bowl filled with sweets in his hand, and poured some into their bag.

"Happy Halloween girls!" He said and smiled, closed the door behind him as he turned to the child below him and was about to talk to them. Sapphire turned around in silence and walked out on the road. Ruby followed suit.

"Sapphire? Are you OK?" She asked. Sapphire turned around, looked at her.

"No, I feel awful, and I'm so sorry for being such a drag!" She crossed her arms and turned away from her again.

"I really wanted to do this but I can feel it coming. I'm sorry." She continued. Ruby put her arms around her stomach and hugged her from behind, she still held onto the plastic bag. It looked pretty light.

"Stop apologizing Saffy, it's OK. I was prepared for this to happen, you've had a tough day." She responded softly. Sapphire turned to her, almost didn't recognize her for a second apart from her eyes. Her grip around her loosened.

"So maybe I thought everything would be OK if you were here with me." She said. Ruby lifted her hand, stroked her cheek gently still with her thin blue glove on. Sapphire sighed.

"I don't think it works like that Saffy." Ruby said ever so softly. Then she let her hand fall down and grabbed Sapphire's cold naked hand.

"I know.." Sapphire responded and looked down at the ground.

"Hey. Come on, let's go home." She tugged at her hand again. Sapphire pulled back, let her hand slip out of her grip.

"No, I don't want to go just like that." She said. Ruby stopped, looked at her and tilted her head.

"Then what do you want?" She asked.

"I want us to go to the kiosk and buy some candy. I brought money." Sapphire responded. Ruby grabbed her hand again. Said:

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Won't that make you even more scared? We don't have to." The lights from the house beside them reflected in her eyes. It was hard to see, this road apparently didn't have any streetlights. But her eyes were right there, blank and intense.

"I.. I want to. I would rather challenge myself for a short while, than throughout the rest of the evening. Liv says I have to push myself. And I'd prefer doing it with you anyway." She responded. Ruby leaned in and hugged her gently. Seemed to be careful not to smear her face paint off on the scarfs over Sapphire's shoulder.

"OK Saffy. But.. Do you want us to go home and take off the make-up first?" She asked. They released, Sapphire smiled to her.

"Are you kidding?" She yelled out. "I want at least some people see what a great job I did." Ruby giggled.

"Yes you did a greeeat job!" She said, leaned in to kiss her. Sapphire moved her head back, made it so that their lips didn't touch.

"Nonono, not yet. I don't want your mouth to become all smeared." She said. Ruby leaned back, jokingly frowned.

"Oh, OK." She said. Sapphire giggled, grabbed her hand and started walking in front of her.

"Come on, let's get this over with." She said as she felt the tension grow from within her stomach.

They stood outside the kiosk. It was dark but the lights from inside lit up the parking lot. Nobody stood outside. Sapphire sighed deeply. She was so scared that her hands shock. She knew Ruby could feel it too. But she let go of her hand, walked in first. Ruby walked in right after her, had her eyes set on her with a worried look. It was in fact very cute how much she cared, but it didn't help now.

As they walked through the door a small peeping sound came from a speaker somewhere. A cashier looked at them as they walked through the metal gates and into the actual kiosk. It was small, filled with magazines and candy and bread and milk products. They quickly walked to where the candy was, looked at the chocolates and potato chips. The light was so bleak and strong she noticed Ruby squinting for a little while before getting used to it.

"What do you want?" Sapphire asked.

"I have no idea, I like pretty much anything." She replied.

"Just pick whatever you want, and hurry." Sapphire said and sighed deeply. Her breath was shaky. It was hard to concentrate. Ruby picked out a chocolate bar, a few small bags with different kinds of small candies, and a bag of crisps. She was pretty fast, and soon placed herself right beside Sapphire with her hands full.

"Is this alright?" She asked, looked down at her hands. She looked so strange being all blue. Her skin color didn't show one bit. Sapphire smiled to her, she looked pretty good.

"Yes, that's fine. Come on." She said quickly and turned around. As they walked towards the cashier Sapphire looked frantically around herself. The colors in the shelves were strong and cluttered. Sometimes, when she felt scared, every detail felt off. As if she couldn't see everything completely clearly. She thought back to when she asked Liv about it. And she had said her body and eye sight responded to adrenaline. Sapphire sighed deeply as she walked up to the cashier. Holy shit, she thought. She would never have done this had it not been for Ruby. It wasn't just the candy. She wanted to eat it with her, enjoy her company, with candy. She wanted to eat them off her mouth, and hoped all of this would be worth it.

The cashier registered the goods, and while Sapphire pulled up her wallet and paid Ruby walked past behind her and started putting the goods in the plastic bag she had been carrying around.

A beep was heard from behind her, and she turned around while putting her wallet back in her pocket. Camilla, Elisabeth and June walked in and stopped right in front of her, all dressed in short black dresses with bubble jackets over them, mouse or cat ears and with whiskers drawn on their cheeks. Camilla was blond, and the two others were brown haired. They all smiled at her.

"Sapphire!" Camilla yelled. One of the other girls laughed and asked:

"What are you wearing?"

"Umm, hello." Said Sapphire carefully. Ruby came by her side, now with her plastic bag fully filled. They stared at each other for half a second before looking back at the girls. It was clear Ruby recognized them.

"Who's that?" Camilla asked with a rude tone. Ruby and Sapphire stared at each other again, now in doubt.

"Y-you don't recognize her?" Sapphire asked as she looked back at Camilla. Her stomach was filled to the brim with fear and nervousness.

"Why would I know who your loser friends are." Asked Camilla while rolling her eyes. She sighed as if she was annoyed.

"Anyway. Sapphire, I heard this crazy rumor about you."

"What's it about?" Asked Sapphire.

"There's this crazy black butch dyke who used to go to our school before you started here, rumor has it she came to our school and kissed you." Continued Camilla. Elisabeth giggled.

"I mean, it's the craziest thing I have ever heard. That Ruby is totally mental! She just beat up everyone without a reason, like all the time." She said.

"Yeah, she's probably spreading it herself 'cause she wants people to think someone wants to be with her. But she's hella weird and crazy!" Said June. The girls giggled. Sapphire looked over at Ruby who looked down at her feet and was clearly upset. Guilt filled her stomach instead of fear, and she tried to predict what would happen. The rumors would spread, Ruby would maybe be seen with her at her school many more times. Her school was far away from her old one where Ola still went, it would take a while if it ever spread to him. Home was a prison. Having Ruby there at school was so liberating, she wanted it to happen again. Ruby thinks she is so bad, so awful, so stupid, so.. Ugly. She were none of those things, but she knew Ruby would think Sapphire would be ashamed to be seen with her. But this had nothing to do with that, but about her being out. And she knew it would happen eventually anyway. Sapphire closed her eyes hard for a second, sighed deeply but fast. Then she opened her eyes and grabbed Ruby's free hand. Ruby looked up, seemed rather shocked.

"Camilla, this is Ruby, and she's my.. Girlfriend. The rumors are true." As she spoke she felt like crying. The girls gaped; one of them covered her mouth with her hand. Their eyes were wide. She looked over at Ruby. And even with her entire face filled with make-up, she could see the big heartfelt smile on her face. Her intense eyes seemed nothing less but moved. Sapphire smiled back, felt a faint warm blush in her cheeks. Then her fear struck like a bullet in her chest.

"Oh my god!" Camilla yelled.

"But she's crazy!" Elisabeth yelled right after her. Sapphire dragged at Ruby's hand.

"Come on Ruby, let's go." She said rather firmly. They walked out the door fast. Sapphire walked as fast as she could, looked straight ahead. Didn't look back, only forward into the darkness. Felt Ruby hold into her hand with a strong grip. But she didn't speak. Sapphire felt her eyes becoming really wet. Her sight became blurred. And the very second they walked past the corner and had the kiosk out of sight Sapphire let go of Ruby's hand and stopped. She bent over herself, supported her arms on her knees and started hyperventilating. Tears ran down her eyes.

"I can't believe I just did that." She said in-between her frantic breaths. And before she could think further Ruby grabbed her by the very top of her legs and lifted her up. It took Sapphire completely by surprise.

"Sapphire!" Ruby yelled. Sapphire's upper body fell a bit forward as she held around Ruby's head. Sapphire cried and laughed at the same time.

"Oh my god Sapphire! Holy fucking shit that was.. Incredible!" She yelled out while shacking Sapphire gently in her strong grip. Sapphire giggled, sniffed, and giggled some more.

"Ruby, put me down!" She yelled. She was let down immediately and landed hard on her feet. Ruby looked at her in the darkness and smiled.

"I'm sorry, it's just.. Nobody has ever done that before." She said. Sapphire smiled and sniffed. Ruby leaned in fast and kissed her full on the mouth. They opened their mouths right away and Ruby kissed her passionately. Sapphire became lost in it. They soon released, and Sapphire smiled to her. Could see her make-up was smeared even in this darkness. They giggled.

"Are you OK?" Ruby asked. Sapphire nodded.

"Good. Now were those girls mean or what?" Said Ruby as she turned around and grabbed Sapphire by the shoulder. They started walking together.

"Yeah, we're in the same class." Responded Sapphire as she sniffed. She dried off her eye and looked over at Ruby. She looked back, smiled with a slightly sad gaze and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Shit is really gonna spread now." She said and smiled.

"Yeah." Responded Sapphire as she sighed. She got a bad feeling about this.

"You want it to spread?" She asked. Ruby looked away.

"Well, I mean, you are the prettiest girl I've ever met and I am very proud to get to be with you. But if it spreading also means you'll experience any type of homophobia then I'll rather have it stay a secret." She said, looked over at Sapphire. Their eyes met in the darkness, her eyes were blank, she blinked.

"You talk as if you're lucky to be seen with me because I'm pretty." Said Sapphire.

"That I am." Replied Ruby as she looked away. She probably knew herself how stupid that sounded. Sapphire thought. They walked into the driveway of Ruby's house. Sapphire stopped, Ruby walked on a few more steps before she noticed and stopped, turned around and looked at her. She seemed rather sad, even with all the blue face paint all over her face. Lights from the house lit half of her face up, and casted shadows. Her beautiful face underneath showed.

"That makes no sense." Sapphire finally said. She felt herself getting a bit mad.

"Yeah it does. You're this beautiful angel model who's super clever and strong and kind and gentle and I'm.. Well.. The crazy black butch dyke." Ruby said while waving with her hands.

"Ruby you're not crazy! And all those other things aren't bad!" Yelled Sapphire.

"Yes they are! I'm black, which is ugly. Ugly hair, ugly skin. I am a butch, I look kind of like a boy when I am a girl, which is ugly. I don't like girly clothes, so I dress a bit different which is ugly. I am a dyke. And they are weird hyper sexualized outsiders who at least apparently in my case, lusts for any girl that moves. Which is desperate. I am too loud and noisy, I take too much room. I always start conflicts and I always make things worse, I always get angry. I am not good at anything, and I'm stupid and impulsive. Like how..? How can someone as good as you say that this violent horrible ugly person is with her, as if it is a good thing?" Ruby yelled. She put her head in her hands.

"Even my own mom hated me and here you come, having no idea what you're looking at and saying that this person, this one I'm gonna let people know is here with me. Like I don't get it!? Where's the logic!?" Ruby shouted and looked up. Her voice cracked. She continued:

" I don't understand this but it makes me so happy to have someone like you even wanting to be seen with me. As if it proves everything wrong. But I can't shake off the feeling that you'll find out every second we're together how awful and useless I am and leave. That I'm too much. That's what everyone else has done!" Ruby yelled and pulled off her wig, flung it to the ground. Tears ran down her face and she became silent. She stared at Sapphire with intense eyes. Waited.

Sapphire had been silent this whole time, listening carefully. With wide wet eyes she had listened to how Ruby truly viewed herself. And it was so strange how different they viewed her. She was in so much pain, and been let down so many times. No wonder she found Sapphire's feelings for her to be something incomprehensible. She might have never truly experienced that before. Someone liking her. She had only been living with her foster parents for 2 years and probably doubted them too. She didn't seem to get much love as a child like Sapphire had gotten. And she did say she had been sent around a lot, all the while getting bullied everywhere she went. She has never had someone who loved her?

The notion was overwhelmingly sad. Tears ran down her face, Ruby's eyes widened.

"Sapphire?" She whispered.

"That's the saddest thing I've ever heard." Sapphire stated, her voice cracked as she spoke. She continued as Ruby looked at her with wide teary eyes. With the wig off she became more recognizable. One side of her face was blue, the other almost black, hiding in the shadow from the house lights to her side.

"Ruby I know what it's like to hate yourself, and I know nothing I will say can change that. But know that everything you said isn't something I have ever thought of you. I might not know you that well but I see so much good in you. But I understand. When people all around you have directly or indirectly told you all of those things your entire life you can't just shrug it off. It stays with you and it shapes you." She walked over to Ruby and hugged her tightly.

"But I'm falling for all of you weather you fully accept it or not. And Ruby?" She said and moved her head back. Their eyes met. Ruby's eyes were soaked and tears still ran down her face, ruined the face paint. But that didn't matter anymore.

"I've been drooling after you for 5 months after taking one look at you. You better god damn believe it when I say you're beautiful to me. Even with smeared out face paint in your face." She said first rather firmly, but at the end she smiled. Ruby smiled too, and looked down.

"I'm sorry that I am like this." She said.

"You have nothing to apologize for." Replied Sapphire. She leaned in and kissed her hard for a few seconds. Then she released, looked Ruby in her dark beautiful eyes for a few moments. They reflected in the lights from the side. Her eyes were dark and blank and beautiful. It was as if Sapphire was in some sort of dark worm spell.

Ruby sighed, pulled Sapphire to herself and hugged her. And they stood like that for a while.

* * *

Sapphire was lying on her side in the darkness. In front of her Ruby's computer was placed on the night table. A scary movie was on. Behind her was Ruby, holding around her from behind. They had the covers over themselves, and she felt rather worm. Ruby's hand which pushed gently at her stomach moved, she reached out, put her hand in a small plastic bag and grabbed a few candies. She moved her hand up, Sapphire turned her head and looked at her. Weak light lit up one side of her face, they made eye contact. She was almost hard to see in this worm safe and dark room. Ruby gave her a piece of candy. Sapphire opened her mouth gently and let Ruby put it at the very edge of her mouth. She caught it with her lips, started chewing it as she smiled. Ruby smiled back, ate one as well. When she swallowed she leaned in, kissed her tenderly for a few seconds before she leaned back. She reached for the tiny plastic bag again and ate a few more candies before she settled down behind Sapphire once more. She placed her arm over her again and pushed her hand gently at her stomach, stroked it gently. Sapphire still had her hair up, Ruby had insisted she should have it up. Now her hair wasn't in the way, and her neck was exposed. For the past 2 hours maybe Ruby had rubbed her face into it, and occasionally kissed it. Now the tip of her nose tickled against it and her worm breaths blew over her skin. Soon her face pushed harder against her, kissed her a few times. Sapphire smiled and felt her face growing worm. A woman on screen ran through a dark hallway screaming, and perhaps it would have been scary had she not felt so amazing right now, with Ruby.

After they had gone inside they had walked straight for the bathroom downstairs. And Ruby had almost broken down laughing at the make-up that had smeared out on both of their faces. It was so nice to see her happy. She could be angry and frustrated and intense, and she could be like this.

Her big soft hand suddenly stroked against the bare skin on her belly. And before she knew it she was tickled against her ribs. She curled up as she broke out in laughter, taken completely by surprise. She heard Ruby giggle while she pushed her face harder against her neck.

"Ruby!" Sapphire yelled and laughed harder.

"Laughy Saffy." Ruby yelled loudly in her ear. After a few seconds she stopped and instead started kissing Sapphire hard on the neck. Sapphire still giggled and smiled, pulled her head a bit back and looked at Ruby, well tried to anyway. Ruby didn't wear her headband for once, and her bangs of tight curls covered her eyebrows. The woman in the movie was getting stabbed to death, she screamed with all her plight. It became a tad bit distracting. So Sapphire lifted her arm, paused the movie, and pushed the screen on the laptop down. It became completely dark.

"Heey." Said Ruby very close to her ear. Her hand was still on her bare belly, she stroked it gently. Sapphire blushed, moved her body around towards Ruby.

"Now I don't get to know who did it." She continued.

"It was the butler." Sapphire commented with a light sigh.

"Of course." Responded Ruby. Neither of them had seen the movie before but they didn't seem to care. Sapphire sure didn't. She leaned in on Ruby and kissed her hard without even seeing where she was. She didn't need to. They opened their mouth and their wet slippery tongues and danced gently yet fast. Sapphire slowly moved herself over Ruby, pushing some of the covers to the side. Letting colder air come in from the side, which was nice because she was really starting to sweat. She tilted her head even more to the side and opened her mouth wider, kissed her deeper. She felt both of Ruby's hands stroking her back. She moved one of her legs over Ruby's body, and let it land on the other side. Both of her knees pushed down on the mattress on both of Ruby's sides, and Sapphire let all her weight fall over her torso. Once she did she felt Ruby's hands going down and gently touch her butt. And it was pushed down quite firmly. Her groin started beating with hot tingles, and her spine heated up as well. She gave off a weak moan in Ruby's mouth. Buried her fingers into Ruby's hair as she moved her torso gently back and forth. They had done that earlier today and it had been so hot. She didn't even know what to call it, didn't know what it counted as. But she knew Ruby didn't mind and that it felt good. As she continued moving a little bit harder Ruby's hand started stroking the fabric of her pants. Their hot wet kiss finally ended and they breathed into each other's mouths. Both of their breaths were shaky. Sapphire moved her head a bit to the side and started licking Ruby's ear lobe, heard Ruby whisper her name. She smiled, kissed her neck and opened her mouth widely. She was so warm and sweaty, images of a naked sweaty Ruby flew into her mind. And it turned her on so much. She started to move her body even harder, it felt like her groin was burning by the mere notion of doing anything like this with Ruby.

She felt Ruby lift her hips up a few seconds, re-positioned her legs as Sapphire tried to catch her breath. Then she was pushed down again, and had now one of Ruby's legs pushed against her groin. It felt a bit better, she smiled in the darkness. Kissed Ruby open mouthed a few times before she moved her head to the other side of her neck and kissed it. She started moving again, this time with Ruby's leg being held a bit up. Sapphire's groin was pushed against Ruby's leg harder by the minute. She felt that she was really wet, that it was really hot and tingly and she completely forgot what she was doing. She always thought it would be so weird and over the top and awkward, anything embarrassing when the time came for her to do anything intimate with anyone, if it ever happened. But in this very moment it all faded away and only Ruby remained, Ruby and that amazing feeling taking over her body. It wasn't as intense as it would be if she touched herself. But it was a lot like it, and it was with Ruby.

She moaned weakly into her mouth, kissed her. Ruby breathed heavily as well and must surely enjoy what was going on. It was so dark, it didn't make any difference if she had her eyes open or shut. Her body was sweating, her entire being was hot and her groin started beaming with pleasure. All her muscles tightened up, she thrusted hard but further between. Hers and Ruby's lips touched, but their mouths were open. She moaned loader than before with Ruby, shut her eyes hard.

"Oh Ruby." She said in a hot and heavy whisper, then she moaned again, didn't stop moving. One more small wave of pleasure came, and she moaned the hardest, but it still wasn't that load. The second she did she also heard Ruby moan, but much weaker. Then it was over.

She relaxed and placed her head in-between Ruby's head and shoulder as she breathed heavily. She smiled, almost laughed a few times in her breath. Ruby's hands left her butt and started stroking the bare skin of her back, underneath her sweater. Their chests and breasts were pressed against each other as they breathed. She could feel her own heartbeat in her own head. She would never have imagined that just thrusting herself against someone with clothes on and kissing them could feel so good. And she got the feeling if she had tried to do it with anyone else it would just be weird and maybe even boring. And if she had done it alone she would perhaps feel much less, and or be more quiet. But with Ruby, oh, anything she felt could be hot with Ruby.

She smiled, moved her head up. Her breath was calmer now. She stroked Ruby's hair, let their nose tips touch.

"How do you feel baby?" She asked. Ruby giggled.

"Baby?" She asked.

"Yeah, or.. I can call you something else?" Sapphire suggested with a tender voice. She felt a tad bit embarrassed. Ruby giggled again.

"You can call me whatever you want Saffy. And I feel great." She replied. Sapphire stroked her warm cheek.

"Good." She said as she sighed. Then she leaned in and kissed her again. This time very carefully. Her tongue was timid, careful, gentle. Ruby pushed Sapphire gently to the side with one of her strong arms. Soon one of her legs had been pushed up and placed on Ruby's hip, and she had moved herself over her. They released. Sapphire could just barely see her eyes. She stroked her cheek gently, could see that Ruby started at her lovingly. She blushed. Sapphire moved her hand down her face and touched her thin soft lips. They were worm and wet. She could feel Ruby's breath on her fingertips. Her lips kissed her fingers, Sapphire smiled and pushed two of her fingers gently inside her mouth. She could feel her tongue wrapping itself around the bottom half of her fingers. It was so hot and wet in there. It made Sapphire think of something else. She blushed and bit her bottom lip as Ruby sucked her fingers for a little while before gently taking them out and kissing them with her closed lips. Then she leaned down and kissed Sapphire on the lips. Sapphire grabbed hold of the back of her head. Kissed her open mouthed for a little while. Then Ruby released, gave her a few closed kisses before she moved her head down to her neck. Kissed it a few times before pushing her face gently into her neck. She yawned as Sapphire moved her hands underneath her sweater and stroked her back gently.

"You're wonderful Saffy." She whispered. As she yawned again Sapphire replied with a soft whisper close to her ear.

"You too baby." She said. They hugged each other a bit tighter. Sapphire looked up at the dark ceiling. She blushed, smiled and later yawned as well. Her strong crush for Ruby beat in her entire body and she felt so safe and happy and at peace. She had never felt this happy before in her entire life. She smiled broadly to herself as she closed her eyes.

"Ruby?" She whispered.

"Hm?" Ruby replied.

"Right now I am more happy than I have ever been before." She said a bit louder. Ruby immediately started giving her lots of closed kisses all over her neck. Sapphire giggled.

"Me too." She said fast, in-between them all.

"Really?" Asked Sapphire as she smiled so wide she could feel it in her cheeks. She knew Ruby meant it but she wanted to hear it another time. Especially because Ruby had expressed being so sad and lonely, it meant so much that she could make her happy.

"Yes. You make me so happy I keep thinking I'm dreaming." Ruby whispered. Her lips move against the skin of Sapphire's neck. It tickled. She embraced Ruby a bit harder, stroked her back slightly faster. Scratched her gently with her fingernails.

"Me too baby." Sapphire responded.

"Mmmmmh." Said Ruby. Immediately after she started yawning. Seemed to really enjoy being scratched tenderly. So Sapphire did that for a while. Stopped when she began to notice how the phase of Ruby's breaths stayed the same. Sapphire had yawned, let her hands rest on her back and closed her eyes. The last thing that came to mind before she too fell asleep was that she didn't want to call her mom to be taken home. And that she wanted to see what happened if she didn't call. Her cellphone was on the bed table. Her eyes were closed, she yawned again, and then she faded away into a soft safe darkness.

* * *

A sharp sound awoke her from deep within. She felt Ruby moving her head on her chest. She opened her eyes as she recognized the sounds to be her ringtone. Saw a bright white light coming from the screen of her cellphone. She immediately reached for it and looked at the screen. She squinted, the light was too bright. But it was her mom calling. She pushed the green phone button on the screen placed the phone near her ear.

"Mmh hello?" She said. She sounded very tired, and that she was.

"Sapphire? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Her mom yelled to her in the phone. Sapphire had her eyes closed, she smiled. Ruby had her face pressed against her boob. She guessed they were soft.

"No.. We were watching a movie and we fell asleep." She replied.

"Well it's half past twelve! I've been waiting up for you to call! I'm not going to wait any longer, I'm going to drive now." Nina shouted. She must have been waiting for a long time. She normally was very collected, like Sapphire. But not now.

"Mom, you could have just gone to bed. You don't need to try and protect me all the time." Said Sapphire as she started stroking Ruby's hair.

"Mh" She whispered.

"I'll be alright. Ruby is a big baby, I'm as safe as can be." She said and looked down at Ruby. The little light that came from the phone lit up her face ever so lightly. She smiled, said:

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are." Sapphire whispered in return.

"What!?" Nina yelled in the phone. "What's going on?"

"Nothing mom. Look. I know you have.. Prejudices, but wouldn't it be great to prove them wrong?" Sapphire asked.

"I'm not going to risk it. I'm going to the car now." Her mom yelled.

"No moooom, come on. It's not your risk to take. It's mine. I'm not a toddler anymore. And there's no risk. I'm safe. Please let me just call you in the morning instead."

"No, I'm driving now, I'll be there in 15 minutes. Be there." Nina said.

"No I'm not coming out. I want to stay." Responded Sapphire firmly.

"Don't be stubborn Sapphire, you'll do as I say."

"No I won't. I'll stay here."

"Sapphire!"

"Mom."

"You'll come out."

"No, I won't."

"You'll, _come,_ out!"

"No."

"If you don't I will take away your allowance and ground you for a month!"

"Mom.." Sapphire said as she sighed. Ruby looked up at her with tired eyes. She must have heard what Nina said.

"I mean it! Now do as I say."

"Fine." Sapphire responded fast and hung up. She looked at the clock, put the phone on the table and found a small light switch stuck to the wall, turned it on. It was bright, she closed her eyes for a few seconds and it took a few more before her eye got used to it. She looked down at Ruby who had her chin buried in her cleavage. But her head was up, and she looked at Sapphire. Their eyes met. Sapphire blushed, thought of what they had done in the darkness. That face had kissed her.

"I don't want you to go." Ruby said with sad eyes. Sapphire stroked her hair a bit more.

"I know, me neither. But mom said she'd ground me and take away my allowance if I didn't come out."

"I heard." Ruby said. They both sighed. Ruby started yawning.

"This is so stupid. She would openly sit down with me and talk about sex and be OK with me doing so with a boy. But a girl? You? Never." Sapphire said and frowned.

"Maybe she's scared you'll seduce me, turn me. Rape me? That's awful." She continued. Moved her arm over her eyes. Tears started coming. Ruby sat herself a bit up and moved over her. She gently moved her arm away and looked down at her. She stroked her tears away carefully with her thumb.

"Heeey, Saffy. Her prejudices I am sure will be shaken off eventually. Don't worry about it. Let's try to enjoy our last minutes together before she comes, huh?" Sapphire dried off the other side of her face, nodded and smiled.

"Yeah." She said. Ruby moved her head down and gently kissed her on her lips. Sapphire moved her arms over Ruby's shoulders and hugged her hard. They released.

"It was so nice to fall asleep with you." Ruby said.

"I know right? It's never gonna be the same to fall asleep alone." Sapphire responded. For half a second it looked like Ruby was about to cry, then she pushed her face against Sapphire's collar bone and neck hard. Sapphire hugged her tight.

"I don't want you to go. I'm always a bit scared of falling asleep. But I wasn't now, with you. It was so nice."

"Baby." Said Sapphire. She moved herself down at her level, met with her eyes. They were blanker than normal, but no tears had fallen yet. She lifted her hand on Ruby's cheek and smiled.

"If you're scared you can always just call me." She said.

"Really? Even in the middle of the night?" Asked Ruby.

"I don't care. I want to be here for you." She added.

"But what if I awake you. That's not fair." Ruby said and pouted.

"Life isn't fair." She said and giggled. "OK?" Ruby giggled a bit too.

"Or well I did get to be with you. That seems pretty fair to me." She added. Ruby giggled a bit more. Sapphire kissed her in her little giggle, stroked her cheek. Their tongues met and massages each other. Sapphire leaned herself over her, kissed her harder. I'm going to miss her so much, the thought.

"Mmmh." Said Ruby, as if to interrupt, Sapphire leaned back.

"What?" She asked.

"I want to see you again tomorrow." Ruby said as a faint blush grew in her cheeks. Sapphire smiled.

"I think mom is pretty mad at me but.. I'll see what I can do." She said, leaned in and kissed her again. Ruby moved her around and pushed herself on top. Kissed her hard on the mouth before she moved on her neck. She licked her neck hard. Sapphire could feel that every second mattered for her too. This was so overwhelming. The passion they felt for each other felt more amazing than she had ever imagined.

"I'll do anything to be with you like this again." She said. Ruby released, moved her face up to hers. They both blushed, their lips almost met. Ruby stared at her lovingly, smiled.

"Awe, me too Saffy. If only I could convince your mom to make you stay for a whole week." She said and kissed her on the lips. In-between kisses Sapphire added:

"How about a month?"

"How about a year?" Ruby added as well, they giggled to each other. Her cellphone started ringing again. She took it right away.

"Hello?" She said.

"Sapphire! Get out immediately, I'm here. Come on."

"Yeah yeah." Sapphire responded with an attitude. She hung up.

"Looks like Saffy got some sass." Ruby remarked as she smiled.

"If you start calling me Sassy Saffy now, I swear to god.." Sapphire said and smiled. Ruby burst out laughing.

"Sassy Saffy! Why didn't I think of that?" She said as she still laughed. Sapphire kissed her mid laugh and made her stop. When she released she said:

"Show me out?"

"Sure." Ruby responded then they both got up and sat up from the bed. They were both fully dressed. Sapphire grabbed her phone and backpack. They walked down the stairs together hand in hand. Ruby walked in the front. The house was quiet and dark. Sapphire lit the way with her phone. They walked into the outer hallway. Sapphire closed the door after herself while Ruby turned on the lights. Sapphire put on her shoes and jacket and scarf and hat all in silence. She was still pretty tired, and it seemed that Ruby was as well. When she was done and had put on her backpack, she turned to Ruby who had been leaning against the hallway door going onto the house this entire time. She had her hands behind her back, but lifted them when Sapphire turned and looked at her. Her eyes were so sad. Sapphire opened her arms too and they embraced as hard as they could for a few moments before they faced each other again, this time much closer.

They kissed, and Sapphire made sure to make every second count. She kissed her as well as she could, stroked her back, caressed her hair. When they released Ruby leaned back in and gave her at least five small pecks as she grabbed her head. Then she finally let her go, still with sad eyes.

"Bye Saffy. Sleep well." She said.

"You too baby. Bye now." Sapphire responded, gave her another a closed kiss, and she turned around. As she did she stroked Ruby's arm, but then she let go. She opened the door, looked at Ruby as she stood there in the hallway, all alone.

"Bye." She whispered.

"Bye." Sapphire responded. She walked outside in the cold. It was snowing. She closed the door, cold wind blew in her face. She was so tired. She heard her mom's car engine run, and she saw the car parked on their parking lot. Behind their car. Sapphire sighed. She walked down the small staircase, walked over the thin coat of snow on the stone. Her footsteps made tracks. She opened one of the back doors of the car and threw her backpack in, as she did she heard Nina shout:

"Finally!" Sapphire sighed again as she slammed the door shut hard. She opened the other one further ahead and sat herself in fast. She shut the door hard.

"Why did you take so long?" Her mom asked.

"You should be glad I'm here at all." Sapphire said while biting her tongue, she was so angry. But she shut it all in. She did after all want to see Ruby tomorrow. The fact that she had to think like that made her so sad.

"No, I said 15 minutes, then you should better have been here at 15 minutes." Nina yelled.

"Just drive." Sapphire said while looking away, out towards the darkness. She looked at Ruby's house. To think, Ruby was I there, alone. And she was out here, alone.

As Nina started driving out of the driveway she had backed into, she started talking:

"I know you're mad but I'm doing this for your own good." They drove in the darkness. She looked at the reflection of herself in the car window again. She hated this so much.

"No you're not." She said.

"What? Yes I do." Nina replied.

"No, mom. You're scared for me, I'm not scared. I didn't ask you to do this, I didn't ask you to pick me up. But you did anyway. I wanted to stay." Sapphire said calmly. She let her anger freeze down within her. All just to get to see Ruby again tomorrow. Even now she missed her. Missed her touch, her voice, her scent.

"You're 15. You don't know what you want." Nina said as she smiled to herself. Sapphire looked over at her, stared hard.

"I'm not 5 anymore, I know what I want. I can tell if something isn't safe. And Ruby is safe. She's so good and kind and gentle.." Sapphire said rather softly, fading into the memories of what they had done today. How kind and beautiful she was. The dream was interrupted.

"She's into you. I don't like it." Said Nina as she stretched her hands out as she held the wheel.

"So what if she is! That doesn't change anything!" Shouted Sapphire, couldn't hold it in anymore. Nina looked at her.

"So she is into you?" She asked calmly.

"I didn't say that. I said so what IF she is." Sapphire responded a bit calmer.

"Maybe it doesn't change much on your side. But if she's into you, which she totally is. I donno, those kinds of people can't be trusted." Nina said, she spoke carefully. As if she knew what she was saying was wrong.

"Why not?"

"They can seduce anybody! That's not right! They have no morals, and they throw themselves over anything that moves. It is an obnoxious lifestyle. And I don't want you to get in touch with people like that. They're no good!" She yelled as she looked straight ahead. Sapphire stared at her with tears in her eyes.

"Mom.." She said. Her voice cracked. Her mom looked over at her, her eyes got wide.

"I can't believe you just said that. How could you be so mean?" Sapphire said, her voice cracked even more.

"Why are you crying? It's nothing personal against them or anything, that's just what I think. I'm allowed to have meanings and morals aren't I?" Nina commented. She seemed tense.

"You're just over-reacting. I'm a good person ya know." She continued. Sapphire crossed her arms and looked away. A tear ran down her face on the side of the window. Her mom probably didn't even see it.

"I'm not so sure anymore." She said.

"Oh come on Sweetie." Her mom said in a complaining tone.

"DON'T call me that." Said Sapphire.

"Hey, we all don't have to agree. It's OK." Her mom added.

"I'm not talking to you." Sapphire said as she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Sapphire.." Said Nina. She sounded sad. Sapphire looked at the streetlights passing by, the houses and trees in the darkness. They were almost home.

"No, shh, I don't want to hear it."

The little that was left of the car ride was silent.

* * *

She was lying on her stomach, sound asleep. A hand glided down her pants and stroked her groin, a face pushed against her neck. For a moment she thought it was Sapphire, it must have been.

"Just like your mother." A man's voice whispered in her ear. She didn't recognize it. She awoke and screamed.

"No!" She yelled. She was held down by her neck, the hands were big.

"Mommy mommy mommy!" She yelled as her pants were pulled down from behind. The person behind her was so much bigger, so much stronger. It was dark. A door opened to their side, lit up the room from behind. A shadow stood in the door. Mother.

"Mommy!" Ruby yelled.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Her mom yelled. She walked over to the man behind her and started hitting him. Ruby turned around to see. He was naked. Her mother dragged him out as Ruby continued to cry.

"Out! I never want to see you again!" Her mom yelled. Ruby curled up in her bed and dragged up her pajama pants as she heard the man being thrown out and a door being slammed. Her mother rushed into her bedroom again, grabbed Ruby by the collar and lifted her up. She sat on her knees in the bed. Her mother lifted her hand, slapped her across the face. It burned, she screamed and cried.

She awoke in her bed with a quick inhale. She was soaked, the room was dark. She sat up as she hyperventilated quietly. Bent over herself and lifted her knees up. She leaned her forehead in-between her closed knees. Tears dripped from her eyes and landed on the covers in-between her face and knees. I hate sleeping, she thought. More than anything. If only Sapphire was here. Then she would be held and kissed and stroked and whispered to. Ruby looked around herself. She could make out the shadows inside her dark bedroom. It was so empty without her. Ruby lay down again, on her side. She put her arms above the covers, dried off her tears. She thought back to them cuddling, how nice and safe it had been. Or that .. Thing that they did. She always thought sex would be naked and bare and scary and weird and embarrassing. She didn't even know if what they did counted as sex, but it was something she had never even thought about. But then again, what even was sex? Was it what she kept dreaming of? Was it what she hoped she was ready for in the future with Sapphire?

Sapphire. Ruby turned her head and looked at her phone in the dark. She still felt scared but had managed to calm herself down. She felt her face getting warmer. Sapphire had been on top of her, moved herself against her and moaned into her mouth. How it made her feel had been surprising yet so fulfilling. And they weren't even naked, she wasn't even opening herself all the way up. Not even Sapphire did that. But it did seemed that she was more willing to do so. Ruby smiled to herself. To think, she had been eyeing Ruby out for almost half a year. That's insane. It seemed that Sapphire started liking her nice and slowly and now was really intense, while with Ruby it had jumped out of the sky and hit her so hard she lived in a hot happy blur. She curled in her bed, sighed. She turned to the other side, looked at her big empty bed. She frowned, sighed again. It was so lonely without her here. It didn't seem right. It was weird how fast things were going between them. A week ago they hadn't even kissed. Now they were together, had pet names for each other would spend hours kissing each other, and that thing that they did. It just happened. But it felt natural, felt so good. She turned herself to the other side of the bed, put her arms over her head as she smiled to herself. She sighed deeply, imagined Sapphire putting her arm around her from behind. Ruby would turn around, press herself against her soft breasts. Listen to her heartbeat. Ruby yawned, removed her arms from her head, put them down over the covers again.

She had cried to her, just like that she had told her some of her biggest worries. For a little while she had thought that maybe she wasn't that bad. But then those girls had ruined it all and thrown her off. And she realized that what Sapphire had told them would make her days at school even harder now. Because of Ruby. Because she was so bad. She wanted her to realize just how bad, then maybe Sapphire would push her away before she got too hurt. Before any of them got too attached. But Sapphire really does care about me, no matter what I say or what she sees, it seems. She thought. It was so weird having someone like that. Kind of the same with Hank and Mona when they said they loved her. She have just started to trust them. She still feared they would turn her away, that she was too much. That they would realize what a horrible person she was. But it seemed no matter what they heard from school they still cared, still wanted her there. She had been handed two parental figures. Now she had been handed a lover too. But she felt like she didn't deserve them. They were so kind and smart and Sapphire especially was so stunning. She herself had done so many bad things, and everything had been her fault, and she got them?

Mother. Don't think about her. Images of her dream came into her mind. She put her hand over her face. Think about something else. Sapphire, think about Sapphire. Her hugs, her kisses. Her mother would hit her, starve her, lock her out. She would disappear, she would appear but sleep for two days straight. She would apologize with food, she would change her mind, she would tell her constantly all the time that she was nothing. That night.. That night was the only time she cared. Tears ran down her face, she turned around and pushed her face into the pillow. Think about happy things, think about Sapphire.

"But I'm falling for all of you weather you fully accept it or not." That's what she said. She's falling for me, Ruby thought. She thinks I'm beautiful for real. Unlike my mom. No, don't. Don't think about her. Ruby thought. Tears ran down the sides of her face as she turned around and looked at the phone again. She sighed. Maybe she should do it? Sapphire said she could after all. Because life ain't fair anyway. Ruby giggled silently to herself for a few seconds. Oh Sapphire.

She grabbed the phone, it lit up. She squinted. Found her name on the contact list. She was already on the most called. Ruby thought back to them talking for many hours into the night, talking about their lives, telling funny stories. But this time it wouldn't be like that. Ruby pushed the green button on the phone screen, pressed the phone against her ear. She sniffed as she waited for her to answer.

".. Hello? Ruby?" Sapphire finally answered, she seemed very tired.

"Heeyy.. Did I awake you?" She asked.

"Yeah, are you OK?" She asked in the phone. Ruby looked up at the ceiling, felt herself tearing up.

"No." She said. "I umm, I had a nightmare.. About my mom." Her voice cracked.

"Awe baby." Sapphire said. It sounded like she was turning around, and she yawned.

"Do you have them often?" She asked, right after she yawned again. It made Ruby yawn too.

"Yes, once a month, at least. Usually more." She replied.

"I wish I could help you baby. I wish I was there." Sapphire said.

"Yeah, me too." Ruby said and looked to her side. At all the empty space around her. "I really miss you Saffy. I don't usually miss people. But I miss you, like, a lot."

"Same here, it's nice to hear your voice. Are you feeling better?" Asked Sapphire, then she yawned.

"Kinda. Now I just feel really lonely instead. But I do feel a bit better." Ruby answered and yawned as well. She closed her eyes, was so tired they hurt.

"Saffy?" She asked.

"Yeah?" Sapphire replied.

"What exactly is it that you like about me?" She asked again. She heard Sapphire giggle weakly on the other end, she seemed to be turning around again.

"It's hard to say. I just do. No matter what you would do, what you would say, or whatever, I just do." She replied gently. Ruby felt her face become all heated up. Really? She thought, no matter what?

"Hm." She said in a quick breath. She still had her eyes closed. "Yeah OK so how about: What exactly made you like me in the first place?" She added.

"I told you about that right? How I saw you for the first time and thought you were really hot?" Sapphire responded, and immediately started giggling. Ruby opened her eyes and smiled broadly.

"You did tell me but not like that." She said.

"Listen Ruby. I know you don't like yourself that much and I feel that way too. But you're so beautiful to me. And hot." Sapphire said rather passionately. She did whisper those last words thought. Ruby started giggling, her face heated up so much.

"Am I making you feel better now?" She asked further.

"Yes. Saffy, you're pretty hot too." Ruby said.

"Thank you baby. I'm so happy we're together." She replied and yawned again.

"Yeah me too. Tired?" Said Ruby.

"Yes." Sapphire replied.

"Maybe we should call it a night?" Ruby asked further.

"Yeah, good night baby, Sleep well. I miss you." Sapphire responded as she yawned.

"I miss you too, thanks for cheering me up. Good night." Said Ruby.

"My pleasure, good night." Sapphire said. Ruby removed the phone from her ear, it lit up again. She closed the call, sighed and smiled. She put the phone on the night table, lay herself to the side and smiled to herself. She closed her eyes and thought of how wonderful it would be to see her again.

It didn't take long before she fell asleep, thinking only about Sapphire. It was nice.


	7. Chapter 7 Memorabilia

boltsofacceptance . tumblr . com

* * *

Warning. Adult content: Sex Trigger warning: Homophobia

* * *

Sapphire awoke from her sleep ever so slowly. She opened her heavy eyelids in the darkness. Her window was covered up, but thin lines of bright white light shone through each side of the window onto the wall. The room was cold, silent. Her thoughts wouldn't properly articulate themselves as she stared up at the ceiling. One image came to mind. Her and Ruby last night. She smiled to herself, moved herself to the side and curled up. That was so amazing, she thought. She couldn't get the memories out of her head. Ruby below her, panting, sweating, eventually moaning. Sapphire's eyes widened in the darkness, She called last night.

Sapphire sat up in her big white bed. She looked around, didn't see her phone on the bed table where it was supposed to be. She lifted the covers around herself. She was topless, It became cold. She found her phone right beside herself under the covers. She picked the phone up, looked at it. Tried to remember. She had been so tired last night. After fighting with mom in the car she had gone straight to the bathroom and gotten ready for bed. While doing so she had cried some more, but she was so tired. She wanted to call Ruby about it but she also wanted to sleep this pain away. Sapphire blinked a few times staring into the room, not really looking at anything. She could feel a faint cry lying behind her eyes and nose. It was still there.

Ruby had had a nightmare, had been scared. Wanted approval as always. Sapphire sighed. Sent Ruby a text message.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?" She put the phone down on her lap. Yawned and smiled to herself. They were a couple. It was just as unreal to her as it was for Ruby that someone liked her so much. Her phone beeped.

"Heey Saffy! I'm feeling just fine. The night passed. Thanks for talking to me." The text was filled with five hearts right after each other. Sapphire smiled and blushed as she saw the sheer amount of hearts in the text message. Ruby was such a hopeless romantic for sure. But so was she. Sapphire found Ruby's number and called her. Yawned as she waited for her to pick up. It didn't take long.

"Hey Saffy." Ruby said first. She sounded cheerful.

"Good morning baby. Hey, I need to tell you something." Sapphire said, cut right to the case.

"What is it?" Ruby replied with a less joyful tone.

"Last night, me and mom had a fight in the car.. Again." Sapphire continued.

"Oh no. What did she say this time?" Ruby responded, seemed genuinely worried. She cared so much, Sapphire smiled for half a second. But then she began to think back to what her mom actually had said, and her smile faded.

"Umm. She said that homosexuals can seduce anybody and that they have no morals and throws themselves over anybody. Something about them being part of an obnoxious lifestyle and that.." Said Sapphire, her voice cracked. "And that she didn't want me to keep in touch with you because of that." She continued, then she started sniffing.

"Oh Saffy.. I hoped this wouldn't happen again. How did you respond in the car?" Ruby asked, her voice was tender.

"I started crying, and said she was mean. She said I was over reacting, but she doesn't know how much it hurts me personally to hear things like that from her." Sapphire responded as her voice cracked again. This awful pain wouldn't leave her chest. The only thing that seemed to help was being with Ruby, it seemed. But she was on the other side of town. Her voice was so soothing.

"Sapphire, you.. Uh you need to let her know soon. Maybe then she will stop." Ruby suggested rather carefully.

"You mean after she throws me out?" Sapphire asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, after you have lived with me for a while and we could fall asleep together every night. Doesn't sound so bad no does it?" She responded on the other end, even giggled a bit. It made Sapphire smile.

"Yeah, that part would be nice. But not the; throwing out part." She responded.

"No but seriously, you know what I mean? I know it's scary but she has no clue what she is saying or doing. She's ignorant, and it might be hard for her to accept but she does seem to love you. It seems that if she knew how much she hurt your feelings she would stop." Ruby said forcibly cheerful.

"She told me I overreacted when I cried remember? You're giving her too much credit." She responded. She heard footsteps outside her room, covered her chest up. She sighed.

"I always thought she was the best mom ever, and it turns out that she's a horrible person." She continued.

"No Sapphire. No, she's just stupid and ignorant. From everything you have told me about her, and you have told me all the bad, I can without a doubt say that she is not a horrible person. If you ever meet one you'll know the difference." Ruby responded, she seemed to grow serious.

"And you have?" Asked Sapphire.

"Yes, I grew up with one." Ruby responded with a lower voice. Sapphire understood, felt bad immediately.

"Sorry." She said. "Maybe I shouldn't complain." She looked down, could feel that the prostatic eye wasn't in. She had gotten so used to it being there.

"No Saffy, it's OK. You can't measure pain and suffering like that, it's relative." Ruby responded. Sapphire smiled.

"Did Hank and Mona tell you that?" She asked.

"Yes in fact they did." Ruby responded proudly. Sapphire giggled.

The door opened in front of her, lit up the room. It was Arild, he stood there, held the door handle and looked straight at her.

"Hey.. Who are you talking to?" He asked. Sapphire stared at him, looked away for a second while considering what she should answer, looked at him again and replied:

".. Ruby."

"What's going on?" Ruby asked on the other end.

"Dad showed up in the door." She responded. Arild started talking.

"Yeah OK, Listen I was wondering if you wanted to come with us grocery shopping, if you feel.." He said, meanwhile Ruby spoke in the phone:

"Sapphire! You can tell him, work out a way for him to talk to your mom without telling her."

"Ruby noo." Sapphire responded.

"Ruby yes!" Ruby responded, Sapphire giggled. Arild stopped talking, tilted his head at her.

"Talk to him, good luck! BYE!" She responded, then she immediately hung up.

"Ru.." Sapphire said until she was hung up on, then she sighed. She let her hand which held the phone fall on her lap. The covers covered her chest, she sat in her bed.

"You mean to tell me you spend all night with her, your mom just barely got you out of there and now you're calling her first thing in the morning?" Arild asked as he still stood in the door, he almost sounded angry. But not quite. He also seemed puzzled.

".. Yes?" Sapphire replied apologetically. Arild stood in the door for a second without even moving a muscle. His blond short hair shone from behind. Then he looked back, looked forward again and sighed. He walked inside, closed the door carefully behind him and pressed the light switch. The room was lit up. He walked over to her bed, sat close to her legs under the covers.

His short blond hair was messy, it was still morning after all. His round brown eyes looked concerned. He had a long and broad symmetrical face, light skin, straight nose and slim lips. He in all honesty looked really tough, but he was a soft and calm man. But he like her mom worked a lot. It had been a while since they just talked. He had always been very open-minded, but now that the image of her mom was shattered she wasn't too sure about any adults in her life anymore.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" He asked gently. Sapphire immediately covered her face with her hands, sighed. Why did Ruby have to be so smart?

"Is something wrong?" He asked further.

"No, yes.. I mean.. It's complicated." Sapphire responded. She removed her hands from her face. Her hair was up in a bun, her prostatic eye was not in. She looked tired, she was basically naked under there. She felt more exposed than usual. Were they really going to talk about this now? Better now than later.

"Dad?" She asked.

"Yes?" He responded.

"What do you think about homosexuals?" Sapphire asked timidly. He smiled to her, as if he knew why she was asking. She swallowed the spit in her mouth, stared at him.

"Honestly, I have no opinion about them. People's sexuality has nothing to do with how they are. So why should I care?" He responded rather casually, after he smiled again.

"You don't think people like that are bad or anything?" Sapphire asked again, she felt the tears coming.

"No, Sapphire, I don't. Now can you tell me what's going on?" Arild asked. The pressure went overboard, the want to cry that had been hiding underneath her face ran out of her eyes. She lifted her knees up and put her face in them over the covers. For a few moments she cried silently, being unable to stop. She felt a big hand stroke the back of her head gently. She had been holding this one in since she found out she was a lesbian, over a year ago. Long before Ruby she had had a small crush on a tenth grade girl at school, it had passed pretty quickly but, ever since she had been so afraid. Her mom had set in motion one of her greatest fears, at least now Arild wouldn't do the same.

"Sapphire. Sweetie. What's wrong?" Arild asked. She looked up, her face was smeared with warm salty tears. Some of them ran down to her mouth, she tasted them as she opened her mouth and spoke. Her voice cracked.

"I'm sorry, but I've been under a lot of pressure lately. I finally found someone and then mom hates her guts just because she's a lesbian. And.." She paused, sniffed.

"Dad.." She continued, let her legs fall down flat on her bed again. He stared at her with wide eyes.

"I'm a lesbian too. And Ruby and I are girlfriends. Mom suspects she likes me and doesn't want me to see her because she somehow thinks all homosexuals have no impulse control, are hypersexual and have no morals. When she says things like that about Ruby or homosexuals in general, she's talking about me too. And it hurts so much. What if she won't love me anymore?" She said as she closed her eyes. When she opened them again Arild looked straight ahead. His eyes were sad, and he sighed.

"Oh dear." He said. "That's really something." Then he looked down, sighed. Sapphire held her breath as she watched him. He turned to her as he opened his eyes.

"Your mother, she.. Her views on some things aren't always the best, because of her faith. But please do understand that those core views what was saved her life and what she is doing now is trying to hold into them. I've seen it happen before with other things, there's no excuse for it but.. Understand where it is coming from, and that she does love you. And I love you too, no matter what you like." He said and smiled at the end. Sapphire grinned at him, relived she said:

"Thank you Dad. I love you too." Arild reached out for her hand, grabbed hold of it.

"And hey, congrats." He said, Sapphire giggled.

"Thanks. But Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you could talk to her?" She asked. Arild tilted his head.

"You want me to talk to your girlfriend?" He asked.

"No, mom, I want you to talk to mom." She replied and giggled. "I want you to ask her to stop talking about Ruby to me. Please don't say why." She continued. Arild nodded.

"Sure." He said and stood up from the bed.

"Wait." Sapphire said. He stopped moving, looked down at her.

"I um, I want to visit her today. And I kind of want to sleep over as well." She said as she looked away. She felt her cheeks getting a tad bit warm.

"How about you join us at the store and I'll just drive you there after?" He asked. Sapphire nodded and smiled.

"Yes, that's perfect." She responded.

"But I don't think we should push the sleepover thing just yet. Give it some time, have them meet properly first and such, what do you say?" Arild added. Sapphire looked down and nodded.

"Yeah OK." She said.

"Good, now, I'll talk to Nina in case she doesn't want you to see her today, and I'll talk to her later today about what we talked about. And by the way, breakfast is ready." He said as the turned around and walked towards the door. He soon walked through it and closed it after himself. The lights were still on, I became completely silent. Sapphire sighed and smiled, dried her tears away with her palms.

"Holy shit." She whispered to herself. She picked up her phone right away and called Ruby, she answered immediately.

"Hello?" Ruby said in the phone.

"I did it Ruby! I told him everything!" Sapphire shouted.

"I knew you could do it! What did he say?" Ruby replied.

"He said that he loved me no matter what and congratulated me, and he was going to talk to mom about it. He's going to talk to mom later. Oh and he also offered to drive me to your house after we had gone grocery shopping." Sapphire said as she smiled.

"That's great Sapphire! I'm so happy for you." Ruby responded, her voice changed from enthusiastic to soft. "I can't wait to see you again." She said.

"Me too." Sapphire said just as softly. She blushed, sighed.

"I'm gonna eat and make myself ready and I'll probably see you in a few hours. I'll see you then." She continued.

"Yeah OK bye." Ruby responded, then she hung up. Sapphire put the phone on the bed table beside her. She stood up from the bed, it became so cold. She immediately grabbed her white soft morning robe and put it on herself. She went into the bathroom, pulled down her panties and sat down on the toilet. As she peed she hummed to herself. The song she had learned in her previous singing class. She soon finished and dried herself. Flushed the toilet and pulled up her panties again. She turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. The bathroom was white and blank and clean, and warm. Her hair though still up, was messy. And since her prostatic eye wasn't in one of her eyelids hung a little lower. She sighed. Now she knew that Ruby would have to see it someday. Maybe even someday soon. She walked up closer to the mirror, bent down in front of the sink and drank some cold water from the tab. Made sure to not have her lips touch it. When she looked up again she had water drops running down her chin. She dried it off with her hand, while the other closed the tab. Her bright blue eye stared at her, all round and blue and happy. She smiled to herself. She didn't look so bad. Even though she had felt uncomfortable in this body ever since puberty hit, she did get traits that were deemed favorable in today's society. People liked girls who had full lips if they weren't black. People liked wide hipped and big chested girls, big hair, blue eyes. She looked at herself up and down. Had to admit to herself that she didn't look so bad. Ruby had after all on more occasions said she was pretty, cute, and hot. People used to tell her she was ugly, and gross, because of her eye. And now here she stood, a girl in a relationship with someone who didn't care about her missing eye. She hoped when it was time for Ruby to see her like this, that she would take it well. This is probably how Ruby feels about her entire body, she thought. How very sad. She decided she would start complimenting Ruby even more than she already have. Make her truly feel that she was beautiful. She nodded to herself in the mirror, then she walked out of the bathroom. She walked past her bedroom and Ola's room. The halls where white and clean and beautiful, she smiled.

She walked down the stairs, smelled eggs and bacon. Heard Arild, Nina and Ola talk. She walked silently down the stairs, and into the dining room. They were all there, all but Nina looked at her an smiled. Nina looked away. Sapphire lost her smile, sat down. Her plate already had a slice of bread with eggs and bacon on it. Arild passed her the milk, and she poured some in her glass without saying a word. Had they talked? Would she still get to go to Ruby's?

"Good morning Sapphire." Ola said and smiled at her.

"Good morning Ola." She sand and smiled to him. He seemed to be in a good mood, sat in his chair and moved as if he was restless. She looked at him, then over at her dad.

"Are you going somewhere?" She asked.

"Well no, we decided that we would first drop your mom off at the city, since she has to cut her hair. Meanwhile we will drop you off, and after me and Ola will go to the toy store. He's been nagging about pokemon cards all week." He responded and smiled, Sapphire giggled, looked at Ola.

"Still burning off your allowance on those cards I see?" She asked. He had food in his mouth when he looked at her and yelled:

"Yeah!" Sapphire and Arild laughed, Nina looked at him calmly and smiled. Sapphire sliced a piece of her bread along with some eggs and bacon with her knife and fork. Ate it with good manners, as she was taught. As she ate more of it she looked at Nina, they made eye contact. Her bright blue eyes and brown hair shone in the light coming from the window to her side. The sun was bleak, almost made it like one of her eyes glowed. She was a very beautiful woman, and Sapphire could see some of her facial traits coming from her. Like head shape and forehead, nose and chin. And the hair of course, but Sapphire had blond hair now.

Nina seemed upset, but it was clear she held it in. She was always like this when she was a bit mad. Sapphire knew she was like that too. Arild and Ola talked around her, mentioned grabbing something good to eat after maybe, like ice cream. It was hard to pay attention, Sapphire and her mom kept steady eye contact.

Her plate had been emptied before she knew it, she stood up as she grabbed her plate with the knife and fork and her glass on top of it.

"Do I have time to shower?" She asked.

"Yeah sure go ahead." Arild replied. Nina stayed silent. She walked out of the room, went into the kitchen and put everything in the sink. She sighed, looked out the window. Little particles of dust floated in the sunrays. The sky was blue, and the trees and ground were covered with snow. It was quite beautiful. She smiled, walked off. She ran up the stairs, walked straight into the bathroom and locked the door.

First she has brushed her teeth. Then she had dressed off and looked at herself in the mirror for a few seconds. Looked at her smooth slim body. For a moment she had imagined how Ruby would react when she saw it. She smiled, stepped into the shower.

The next half an hour had passed by quickly as she showered. She shaved off every hair on her body carefully, washed her body with flower scented soaps. Except for her groin, which she washed with perfume less soap. She had washed her hair, all while she sang Riverside.

Sapphire was out of the shower, had dried herself off and put on her robe again. She was naked underneath. She stood over the sink, had the water running. She washed her prostatic eye gently with hot water. While it was still wet she lifted it up to her face and looked at it. Sometimes it looks a bit like a real eye, just like Ruby had said. She turned it around, held it with her thumb and index finger. Lifted her upper eye lid with the index finger on her other hand. Shoved it gently into her eye socket. It snapped into place, by strong magnets attached to the pretend eye ball in there that was always in. She had had it for years. It usually got switched out every few years since her scull grew. But it seemed this was the one she would have at least until she was old enough to operate a glass eye in there. She hoped that would happen when she was 18. Then she wouldn't have to cover up half her face anymore. Then she would look normal.

When she was done she put the towel she had dried herself with up on the edge of the shower. Took her panties with her out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. She put it in a small laundry basket. Found a new one and a bra in a drawer, let the robe fall to the floor around her and put it all on. She took off the towel she had covered her wet hair with, dried it off and let it fall on the floor beside her robe. She put her wet messy bangs behind her ears.

She looked in her closet again. Saw the endless folded skirts in one of the shelves. She sighed. Dragged a pair of dark blue pants out of the very back. She knew she had one more pair somewhere in there, and apart from something that she could sleep in, that was it. The rest were skirts. Sapphire put on a white tank top, then she found a nice white blouse with dark sliver buttons on them. The buttons had patterns similar to a Norse brooch. She put the end of the blouse unto her pants, so that her legs showed better. The mirror on one of the closet doors were long, she looked at her outfit, smiled. It was nice.

Then she walked into the bathroom again with the towel she had dropped on the floor, hung it up beside the other bigger one. She found her lips eye and brow make-up. Put it all on in what seemed like ten minutes. She did what she always did. Lined her eyes, put on mascara, marked her brows with light brown, put on her brown pink-ish lipstick. Then when she was all done she found the hair dryer, and spent the next ten minutes blow drying her hair. It felt like it took the longest time.

When she turned it off she heard someone yell for her.

"Sapphire!" Arild yelled.

"Yes!?" She yelled back.

"Are you done soon or what!?" He asked further.

"Yeah, I'm done!" She replied.

"Come on then!" He yelled back. She put down the dryer, dragged out the contact. Put it back in its place and walked into her bedroom. She grabbed the phone, looked at it for a few seconds, no new messages. She turned off the lights as she walked out, closed the door behind her.

She ran down the stairs and ran through the hallways as she grinned.

"I'm ready! Let's go!" She yelled. Arild and Nina came walked from the living room, they had all changed and looked nice.

"Ola! Let's GO!" Arild yelled. Her mother stayed silent, Sapphire looked at her as they walked beside each other towards the very end of the house. It was big. Ola came running behind them and ran past them. Sapphire smiled to him as he ran. He seemed so happy today. She was too.

They got dressed in silence, Ola was of course done first, then Nina had walked out and stopped on the porch. She had left the door open. Sapphire had her blue robe like jacket on, left it open. Nina walked out as she bent down and put on her clean white shoes. Arild would out and passed Nina, walked off the porch and into the garage. It had snowed, and he or Nina would normally have shoveled it all away. But they probably planned to do so later. Sapphire walked out of the house, closed the door behind her. She found the keys in her jacket pocket and locked the door. Then she turned around and walked towards the garage. The garage door was slowly opening itself. Arild and Ola stood in front of it and watched it carefully as it moved. Ola jumped up and down a bit. Her mom was on her way. Sapphire smiled at them as the sun shone on her face. The birds tweeted and the wind was silent. What a beautiful day, she thought. She reached in her pocket and found her sunglasses, put them on. Bu then the garage door had opened enough for them all to go through, Sapphire came in last. The garage was dark inside, but that didn't matter. Arild sat himself behind the wheel while Nina sat beside him. Sapphire and Ola sat in the back.

They backed out of the garage in their nice black BMV. The car was silent and smooth and clean, much like their entire house actually. Arild pushed on a button over his head and the garage door began to close. Then he backed completely out of the driveway and into the road. They soon drove off. The other houses in the area were equally nice and clean and often white. Maybe she was kind of rich? She had always been so used to everything being this way. But now that she thought about it, maybe Ruby was right?

Her stomach filled with butterflies. Ruby. She thought. She smiled as she looked out the window, leaned her elbow on the car door and leaned her head against her hand. Buildings and trees and people and cars passed her by. She imagined kissing Ruby again, smiled even broader to herself. She sighed lightly. Noticed her mother twitching her head in front of her. Maybe she noticed? Sapphire hoped not.

They stopped on a very small parking lot in front of a hair salon. Sapphire had zoned out, but when they stopped she became more aware.

"There, now call me when you're done OK?" Arild said.

"Of course." Nina replies, leaned in on him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. After she turned around and looked at Sapphire who still had her sunglasses on.

"Have fun Sapphire." She said with a faint smile.

"Thanks mom." Sapphire replied monotonously. Then Nina walked out of the car and closed the door behind her hard. She walked off in a hurry. Arild turned towards her.

"Wanna sit in the front?" He asked and smiled. Sapphire grinned at him.

"Yes." She said. She walked out of the car, and opened the door her mother had just closed, sat herself in. The second she closed the door again he started driving. They drove out on the road again. Ola hummed behind them.

"What did you say to her?" Sapphire asked low key.

"I just said that it wasn't very Christian of her to care more about how she feels than her own daughter. And that you were a teen now, and had to have the freedom to choose your own friends. She cried." Arild replied with a smile as he put on his sun glasses too.

"She did?" Sapphire asked surprised.

"Yeah. And then she expressed exactly what I thought was the problem. She was scared if she broke any of the values she gained before, you know.." He continued, looked behind himself for half a second at Ola. He of course had no idea what their mom had been like when Sapphire was a small child.

"Of course she doesn't trust Ruby still, but I said she could at least give her a chance, and she agreed. You're welcome." He continued casually. He moved his head all the time, looked out for cars, he kept his eyes on the road.

"Thanks." Sapphire said as she smiled to him. They grew silent for a moment.

"So, you and Ruby huh?" He said and smiled.

"Yup." Sapphire responded.

"I must say, I didn't expect that you were, ya know.." He said and giggled.

"I didn't break any dreams did I?" Sapphire asked and smiled nervously.

"Nope, only now all the baby makin' responsibilities are on this little guy's shoulders." Arild said and smiled while he pointed at Ola sitting in the back. Ola looked up confused that Arild had pointed at him, had obviously not been paying any attention. She and Arild started laughing.

"I can still have kids though, if I really want to." She said.

"Yeah I know. " Arild responded as he still giggled a bit. Their laughter died out, and Sapphire leaned her head back against the car seat. She smiled, it sure helped having dad on her side, she thought. Ruby was right.

When they had arrived into the Garden City area had Sapphire texted Ruby, told them they were close by. Ruby had replied with a simple OK and a heart. Sapphire had shown Arild the way to her house. And here they were.

Sapphire saw Ruby's red house, Ruby even sit on the stairs. The roof above covered it, so it was dry. She seemed to lean back and enjoyed the sun, but noticed that they were coming.

"There." Sapphire said and pointed towards the house. Arild nodded. Excitement filled her body, she couldn't help but smile. They parked in their driveway front first as she took off her seatbelt. The second the car stopped Sapphire walked out of the car, Ruby had walked down from the stairs and came her way. She wore her red bubble jacket and it was open. A black hoodie showed underneath. The car engine was still on, the waves rushed into shore, the sun shone like the happiness inside of her. Ruby smiled to her with open arms, and the second they embraced her body heated up. Butterflies came in her stomach and she pushed her face hard against Ruby's sounder and neck, could feel her doing the same thing. Their chests were pressed together, she could feel her breathing. She smelled like soap, must have showered as well. But the hair that tickled against her ear was not wet. She could feel Ruby rub her back gently, she smiled, released and looked at her. She spoke as she still held onto her arms, Ruby's naked hands rested gently on her hips.

"Hey." She said. She felt one of Ruby's hands move away from her hip and up to her head. She moved away the bangs carefully with the tips of her fingers. Sunlight hit her eyes and it almost looked like they glowed in a deep red-ish orange. Her eyes looked down at her mouth, smiled.

"Hey." She replied. Sapphire leaned in and gave Ruby a small quick peck on the lips as she heard a car door open and be shut. For a moment there she had felt like they were alone. She turned her head towards the sound, Ruby's hand fell and her bangs came into place again. Arild had walked out of the car and walked up to them. Ruby turned towards him as well but kept a steady hand on her back. Sapphire looked down and blushed as Arild made it to them, lifted his hand and shock hands with Ruby. She seemed to have a firm grip, they made eye contact and nodded to each other.

"Arild. Nice to meet you." Arild said.

"Yeah, hi, nice to meet you too. I'm Ruby." She said in return. They loosened their grip, let each other's hands go. Sapphire looked at her dad as he opened his mouth and spoke.

"Listen, I'm totally OK with you two. Even though Nina might not be at the moment, she hasn't been rude to you has she?" He asked and looked at Ruby. She shook her head right away.

"No, I've only seen her twice, from a car window. But Sapphire has told me a whole lot about her." Ruby replied.

"I see. Well. I was thinking you could lay low for a while, and then eventually come visit us and meet her properly, and after that I am sure she trusts you enough to let her sleep over. But until then try to not nag about it, Sapphire." Arild said and looked at the both of them in turn, ended with Sapphire. She nodded.

"Yeah OK." She said. She looked over at Ruby who seemed to look behind Arild, she grinned. Sapphire tried to find what she was grinning at. It was the car window in the back. Ola was staring right at them with wide eyes. Ruby let out a weak giggle.

"I take it that's Ola?" She asked. Sapphire smiled, looked at her and nodded.

"Yes, do you want to meet him?" She asked. Ruby smiled.

"Sure." She replied. Arild turned around towards him.

"Hey Ola, come!" He yelled and moved his hand in a 'come here' motion. Ola removed his seatbelt and opened the car door, jumped out. The little boy was slim and big eyed. He walked over to Ruby and looked up at her. He didn't even smile. Ruby reached out with her hand.

"Hello there Ola, I'm Ruby." She said. His eyes widened.

"You're Ruby!?" He yelled out. Sapphire and Ruby made eye contact for a second as Ruby took her hand back. Her other hand still rested on Sapphire's back. The light touch made her warm.

"Yes? What about it?" She asked. They all stared at Ola now.

"I didn't know Ruby was a boy's name too." He quickly said. Sapphire sighed while Ruby and Arild immediately started laughing.

"You thought that..?" She said in-between and laughed some more. Ola looked down and seemed somewhat embarrassed. Arild touched his shoulder.

"Hey.. It's OK." He said. Ruby bent down while still standing.

"Awe don't feel bad. I hear it all the time. It's OK." She said with a gentle yet playful gaze. Sapphire couldn't help but gently touch her shoulder and stroke it. Ola looked at her hand on Ruby's shoulder, then up at her. They made eye contact.

"I didn't know girls could be together." He said.

"And now you do." Said Ruby. She looked up at Sapphire and then Arild. Then back down at Ola again.

"And umm, I have a secret mission for you." She continued. Ola's eyes widened again.

"You do?" He asked. Ruby nodded.

"Mhm." She said. "You have to keep what you know about me and Sapphire a secret. At least for a while." She continued. He squinted at her as he smiled.

"Why?" He asked. Ruby was caught off guard and laughed a short rather quiet laugh.

"That's a good question.." She said and stood up. He looked up at Arild. Sapphire placed her hand on Ruby's back.

"Why is it a secret?" He asked. Arild sighed.

"I'll give you an extra pack of pokemon cards if you don't tell anyone." He said.

"Deal!" Ola shouted.

"I'll explain it to him later, don't worry." Arild said. He turned his head down at Ola.

"Come on let's go." He continued and turned around.

"Bye, it was nice to meet you." He said as he waved with one hand. Both Sapphire and Ruby waved back at him. Ola ran to the car as Sapphire leaned in on Ruby and kissed her on the cheek.

"It was a nice try." She whispered.

"Thanks." Ruby said as she sighed. Sapphire turned her head and shouted:

"Bye Dad!"

"I'll pick you up at 11 o'clock!" He shouted back as he got into the car. Cold wind blew over her as she and Ruby turned towards the house and started walking. The snow around the house had been shoveled away. Cold wind blew over her from the sea, made her hair wave as Ruby opened the door in front of her and walked inside.

Sapphire closed the door behind her. Ruby was already taking off her bobble jacket. She hung it on the hooks as Sapphire removed her jacket too. She gave it to Ruby who hung it up right beside hers. They kicked off their shoes at the same time. Before she knew it Ruby had turned towards her and leaned in on her. She shadowed over the roof light and their noses touched. Sapphire looked her in the eyes. Ruby looked down at her face so close to hers, seemed relaxed. A faint blush could be seen on her cheeks, all though as always it was hard to see since she was so dark. But it was there. Sapphire's face grew worm.

"I've missed you." Ruby said softly.

"I've missed you too." Whispered Sapphire in return, she leaned in on her completely and their lips met. Her kiss was gentle but warm, slow and wet. She opened her mouth slightly and let the tips of their tongues meet as they moved their lips over each other. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it made Sapphire so warm in her entire body. They released, Ruby smiled to her, and she smiled back. Ruby grabbed her hand, twinned their fingers together.

"Come on." She said and opened the door beside her. They walked into the bigger longer hallway hand in hand.

"Sapphire is here!" Ruby shouted. Mona came out of the kitchen with a cup in her hand. It smelled like it was coffee.

"Already? I take it you're not coming to the grocery store then?" Mona asked and looked at Ruby.

"Nope." Ruby replied and looked at Sapphire.

"Hey Sapphire." Mona said.

"Hello." She responded. Hank sat behind them on the kitchen table, read Havetown times, the local newspaper. Mona turned around, seemed to drink up her cup.

"Ready to go?" She asked when she was done. He put the newspaper down flat on the table.

"Yes." He said and stood up. Ruby tugged at Sapphire's hand. They walked off, and up the stairs. As she walked it all seemed like a hot haze, her hand that held onto Ruby's became sweaty. She sighed lightly and smiled, followed her into her bedroom. It was dark, and cold.

"It's so cold in here." She commented as she closed the door behind her. The room became all dark.

"Sorry, I just get so warm, unlike you. I'll turn on the oven." Ruby said. She saw her shadow move across the room. A click came from where she bent down. The blinds from the window made the room completely dark. And this darkness was so soothing, just like it was yesterday. Sapphire didn't feel like turning the lights on. She just stood there and waited for Ruby to come back to her. Ruby came soon enough, and embraced her tightly.

"Aren't you gonna turn on the lights?" She asked. It must have seemed odd to stand right beside the light switch and not touch it.

"No." Sapphire said while she put her arms around Ruby's back and stroked it hard. They stood like that for a little while in her cold dark room, stroking each other's backs. Pressing their faces against each other's shoulders and necks. Her heartbeat rose, she could feel Ruby's chest and breasts breathe against hers. They lifted their heads up, Sapphire lifted her hand and put it on Ruby's soft warm cheek. It was still so unreal that they were girlfriends. She never thought this would happened. She stroked her thumb gently over Ruby's lips Felt her kiss it gently. As she did, they heard a faint "bye" coming from downstairs and a door being slammed shut. Their lips met, Sapphire felt the blush in her cheeks increase. She moved her hand up over Ruby's hair and stroked her hair close to it. Could feel the fabric of her headband. Their mouths opened wide and their tongues moved aimlessly and playfully for a little while. Then they found their rhythms for a few turns Ruby released and moved back. Sapphire could just barely see her lifting up her arms and pulling off her hoodie. She slung it on the floor, moved back into Sapphire's grip and kissed her hard on the lips. She could feel her touching the buttons of her blouse.

"It's still pretty cold in here." Sapphire whispered as she sighed.

"I'll keep you worm." Ruby replied. Sapphire let her unbutton the two top buttons before they stepped away from each other and Sapphire dragged the blouse off herself. Both she and Ruby wore tank tops underneath. Ruby's it seemed was back but she couldn't tell for sure. She lifted her hands and touched both sides of Ruby's soft strong neck. Moved them down her shoulders and gently held at her arms. She bit her bottom lip in the darkness as she felt her muscles.

"But you're still not ready to go all the way right?" She asked.

"No, but.. We can do what we did yesterday?" Ruby replied, her voice sounded shy for a moment. Sapphire blushed really hard.

"That sounds nice." She said. Ruby leaned in on her and kissed her open mouthed. Put her arms up and over Sapphire's shoulders. Sapphire quickly rested her hands at Ruby's lower back. Ruby began to move to the side, still kissing her as they landed on her bed. Ruby was on top of her, her arms were on both sides of her head. Her hands stroked at her scalp, her mouth was open. Their tongues danced as they breathed into each other's mouths. Sapphire could feel her arms tremble slightly, she released.

"The covers." She whispered.

"Right." Ruby replied a bit louder. They moved themselves under the bedding that seemed to have been made. They found each other's embrace again and pushed their faces together. Sapphire moved herself over her, gave her small pecks all over her face. First on her cheeks and jaw, one on the mouth, and then up her nose and forehead. She could feel Ruby smiling, could hear her breath giggle silently.

"You're so beautiful Ruby." Sapphire whispered.

"So are you Saffy." Ruby replied just as silently. Their lips met again, their hot wet tongues moved about over and under and beside each other. Sapphire moved herself in such a way that Ruby's legs were between hers again as she started kissing and licking below her ear and further down her neck. Ruby moaned silently, Sapphire's groin heated up. She pressed herself against Ruby's leg which was lifted slightly up. She moved herself slowly up to Ruby's face again, kissed her open mouth as she herself too moaned in a shaky whisper that didn't say anything. She started moving her torso while Ruby's hands gently felt down her back. One of them stayed there and moved itself under her tank top, stroked her bare skin. Her hands were so warm. Her other hand moved all the way down to her right butt cheek and squeezed it gently. As she continued to move she felt the hot tingles in her groin increase. Ruby was wearing tights, and the fabric on her pants weren't that thick either.

She moaned into Ruby's mouth, lifted one of her hands up to her hair and held it. While her other hand moved down at her throat. Sapphire moved her head more to the side and let Ruby pant in her ear as she moved her hand down and stroked at one of Ruby's breasts. She hoped it was OK, and Ruby didn't move her hand away or said anything. Sapphire didn't stop thrusting, Ruby's hand that rubbed against her back rubbed harder. Sapphire kissed her cheek with her lips and tongue, could already notice that Ruby was sweating. She grinned, stroked her breast a bit harder. It was clear it was perhaps a bit bigger under that tight sports bra. It didn't even have any sort of pads in them, Sapphire could feel her nipple, she moved her head back and kissed her hard on the mouth as she moved her torso faster and harder. Hot beams ran up her spine, her body was so hot. Her heart beat in her chest, and the hot tingles appeared in her groin again. It felt even better than yesterday, but only slightly.

She began to moan properly. As she did, Ruby moaned too, but much more silently, more like a breath. She could feel Ruby's hand that had stroked her back move down to her other butt cheek. She began moving her butt in her grip along with her torso movements. Ruby pressed her leg up a bit higher, and seemed to move a bit herself. It felt even better. The hot tingly beams streamed from her clitoris, she became increasingly wet in there. The covers were still over them, she felt herself sweating as well. She panted, and moaned again. The bed moved ever so slightly from their thrusts, but didn't make a sound.

"Babyy." Sapphire said in one of her tender moans. They were still pretty low key.

"Saffy." Ruby responded in a hot shivering whisper. The very sound of her made Sapphire moan again. The beams reached their peak, her thrusts became harder and fewer between. Sapphire moaned the loudest as she closed her eyes hard. She moved herself one last time as she moved herself up, moaned one last time as she heard Ruby gave off a faint moan as well. Then she let go of this wonderful feeling, and went limp in Ruby's arms.

* * *

Sapphire had moved on top of her. Her face had been over hers, kissing her, moaning weakly in her mouth. Just having her grind at her like that and hearing her, and feeling her above her in the darkness made her feel so good. How it even was so she didn't know. But it was something about her sounds and smell and skin and lips and tongue that made Ruby almost orgasm herself. Her groin would beat and pulsate and her clitoris would as if being touched very gently make her come. So when Sapphire had given away her now many hot soft low key moans, Ruby couldn't help but do so herself even though she didn't probably even feel half as good.

Then Sapphire had had enough and lay down on top of her again. Breathed into her neck for a few seconds. Ruby smiled as she looked up at the dark ceiling. She breathed heavily as well, but not as heavy as Sapphire did. She had touched her breast, and it had felt so right. Even though she hated them. She hated that they were there for some reason, but now when Sapphire had touched it and liked it, she hadn't minded having breasts at all.

As Sapphire still breathed into her neck Ruby moved her hands up from her butt and stroked her back gently. Kissed the soft hot skin on her neck and shoulders. She first started with closed kisses, but it soon became more intense. She opened her mouth, licked, tugged at her hair gently and whispered into her ear:

"I want to try." Sapphire moved her head up, faced her. They looked at each other, Ruby could see her hair being all over the place. She giggled, moved her hand behind Sapphire's head and pressed it down. Kissed her full soft lips. Sapphire moved herself to the side, let Ruby move herself on top of her. Had the lights been on she might have worried about how she looked, or how her belly looked even though she knew it wasn't even big enough to be noticed almost. But she didn't like her body, and the darkness made it all so safe and sound.

Sapphire kissed her hard on the lips, moved her arms behind her back and pressed her down. Ruby positioned herself in place right away, smiled as she started kissing Sapphire's warm neck. She sure was kept warm, Ruby thought. Sapphire stroked hard on her back with both of her tiny slim hands. Kissed her on the side of her forehead as Ruby kissed her neck with her lips and tongue. Sapphire's breath grew shaky, Ruby started moving her torso slightly, moved her face up to Sapphire's and kissed her open mouthed. Her groin was so warm and pulsating and her belly was filled with butterflies and she blushed so hard, she felt the beams going up her spine. She wanted this so much, yet she was hesitant. She felt as if maybe she would do something wrong, or that she would sound strange when she moaned. She released from Sapphire's lips and closed her eyes, let Sapphire breathe into her mouth as she began to grind a little bit harder. It felt pretty good. Oh fuck it, she thought. She knew Sapphire liked her, and would probably enjoy hearing her just as much as she enjoyed hearing Sapphire.

So she began to grind hard, and it immediately felt better than she had thought it would. She knew her clitoris was very sensitive, and it was stiff and swollen right now for sure. And the thin fabrics between them didn't seem to mute all the sensations. But it was almost as if the very presence of Sapphire made it all feel so much better. They were so close, they did things she never thought she would ever want. It felt more right than anything she had ever done, so she moved harder, and breathed heaver. Got lost in all these wonderful sensations filling her being, beaming from her groin. Her heart beat so hard in her chest she could feel it on her head and fingers. Could almost hear the blood being pumped through the veins close to her ears. She kissed Sapphire hard, moved one of her hands up to her breast. Stroked it.

As she began to feel better and better and moaned, Sapphire sat herself up. Ruby didn't stop grinding for a second, Sapphire kissed her neck hard with her lips and tongue, blew shaky breaths on her sweaty neck. Ruby moved her head up, pressed her hands against Sapphire's back hard. Her legs were at her sides, her knees bent. The muscles in her legs and arms and neck and back tightened. She moaned a long perhaps a bit too load moan, and just as she did she felt so embarrassed by it. But she didn't stop, she still moved, and moaned a bit lower next time. It happened over a span of maybe 1 minute, it had felt so good. Though not as good as if she would do it herself, naked and alone. But Sapphire made everything better even though it didn't feel as good. When the minute past and the pleasure died down they lay back down together. Ruby now out of breath, she pressed her cheek against Sapphire's naked collar bone. She felt Sapphire's hand and fingers stroke gently over her afro hair. Her other hand stroked at her arm, she smiled as she closed her eyes.

"That felt better than expected." She whispered in her breaths.

"I know right?" Sapphire responded a bit louder. She sighed lightly and quickly, giggled:

"Good thing we're alone in the house." She said and pressed a bit harder at Ruby's shoulder. She felt herself blush hard, pressed her entire face against Sapphire's chest above her breasts.

"Mmmm." She said in a complaining tone, Sapphire giggled again.

"You're embarrassed?" She asked above her ear.

"Yeeess." Replied Ruby and closed her eyes hard. She breathed normally now. Sapphire giggled even louder, moved her hand from Ruby's hair and embraced her hard with both her hands. Ruby's face got pressed into the cleavage of Sapphire's breasts, she blushed even harder but smiled. She heard Sapphire's laugh come from within her chest, her heart beat and her lungs breathing.

"Ohh Ruby, baby. That's so cute." She said.

"It is?" Ruby mumbled, still with her lips pressed against the top of Sapphire's breast.

"Yes. But don't worry, I thought you sounded pretty hot." Sapphire responded, they both giggled. Ruby rather nervously. She heard her move, and the lamp on the bed table was turned on. Its yellow light was so bright Ruby closed her eyes right away. Let them stay shot for a few seconds before she decided to try and open them and see. She opened her eyes, squinted and looked up at Sapphire who looked down at her. Her forehead glistened slightly. She smiled, Ruby blushed, smiled back. Even from what someone would call an unflattering angle, she was so beautiful, she thought.

"Pretty Saffy." She said. Sapphire grinned with her teeth, moved her head down and kissed Ruby a few times on her moist forehead. Ruby was definitely the most sweaty out of the two of them, but she was always too warm no matter what. They hadn't even done something that exhausting, but she had been under the covers with another warm body, that was enough to make her feel soaked. Maybe Sapphire thought that her being sweaty was kind of gross but didn't say anything? She hoped not. She began to relax in Sapphire's grip again, pressed her ear against her skin and closed her eyes. Sapphire's heartbeat still beat kind of fast. She could hear her breathing, feel her chest rising and falling as she did. She felt Sapphire's fingers in her hair again. Not moving through it but rather gently massaging against her scalp. Her other arm gently moved up and down her bare arm. Ruby moved one of her hands under one of Sapphire's arms, stroked at the very side of her shoulder with her fingers. She was still warm, her stomach tingled, so did the very top of her cheeks. Finally she was exactly where she wanted to be again. She sighed deeply, kissed the top of one of her boobs fast a few times. Then she pressed her face against exactly where she had kissed. Sapphire giggled. Ruby opened her eyes, looked up at her. Sapphire grinned down at her, stared at her lovingly. Ruby grinned back, lifted her head and moved a bit up. They gave each other a hand full of long soft closed kisses. Then they stared each other in the eyes, Ruby lifted her hand and moved away her banks. Sapphire looked down and grinned, seemed to blush. Ruby smiled to her, now she was the one being cute.

"Let's go to the bathroom, I need to dry off." Ruby suggested. Sapphire nodded. They got up, left the room close to one another. The bathroom was right beside her bedroom, they walked into it. She didn't bother locking the door. The lights were already on. Ruby sat herself down on the toilet right away while Sapphire placed herself in front of the mirror. Her hair was really messy, she took one look at herself and laughed the most wonderful laugh. Ruby blushed and grinned while she peed.

"Oh my god, my hair." She said. Ruby took some toilet paper and dried her armpits. Sapphire looked at her through the mirror, laughed again. Ruby grinned at her apologetically while she blushed, dried her forehead and neck with the same ball of paper. She looked at Sapphire who stared at her.

"Can you look away for a sec?" She asked. Sapphire smiled, covered her eye with her hand.

"Oh sure OK." She said playfully. Ruby gave away a weak sigh, began to dry off her vagina. She was so wet, it was almost slippery. Then she let the ball of paper go down into the toilet and stood up. Dragged up her panties and pants. When she flushed Sapphire looked at her again. Ruby walked over to the sink while Sapphire sat herself down on the toilet and started peeing. She did the same thing. Dragged out a small ball of toilet paper, dried her forehead and armpits. Hers were clean shaven. Then when she was done she dried her groin, Ruby tried not to look as she washed her hands. Sapphire didn't even seem to try and hide herself. Funny how she was so shy socially, but with her body around Ruby she seemed so confortable. It's probably because she knows she is really pretty, Ruby thought. Unlike herself, who actively tried to hide her body no matter what because she knew she was ugly. It was still so odd to her that anyone thought otherwise. All the times she had been stared down in the locker rooms because she didn't shave, or because she wasn't as skinny and pretty as the other girls. That awful feeling wouldn't rub away, expect when.. Images of what they had just done in the bedroom came to mind, a faint prickly blush was felt on her cheeks.

Sapphire slipped in behind her and moved her arms through under hers, and put her hands under the tab. Ruby snapped out of it as Sapphire leaned her chin on her shoulder.

"What'cha thinking about?" She asked. She put some liquid soap on her hand and rubbed them together, rubbed some on Ruby's hands even and washed them under the hot water. Ruby smiled as she looked down at Sapphire's tiny slim hands. They were so cute.

"I was just thinking about how you're so pretty and I'm.. Nevermind." Ruby responded as her smile faded. Sapphire closed the tab, moved away from her. She grabbed a towel as she asked:

"That you're.. What?" She dried her hands off, put them over Ruby's who reached out for it. Ruby dried her own hands as she looked away.

"And I'm.. Not." She said. She looked over at Sapphire who stared at her with a sad expression. "I know I know, I'm sorry. I shouldn't feel like that but.. It's hard to shake off." She flustered as she looked down again. Sapphire touched her cheek with her hand, they made eye contact again.

"It's not like you're not allowed to think and feel that way Ruby. It's OK. I get where it's coming from. But I think you're beautiful though." Sapphire said softly. Ruby put her own hand over hers, sighed.

"Yeah.." Ruby said and smiled a bit. Sapphire moved hers and Ruby's hands away, tugged at it. They walked out of the bathroom together, and into the bedroom again. They lay down in her bed, cuddled up again.

This time Sapphire held her while lying on the same level as her. She hugged her tightly, they both lay on their sides under the covers. The room was still a bit cold, probably more so to Sapphire. Ruby pressed her chin against her shoulder, sighed and closed her eyes. The night lamp still shone, she could see the light coming through her eyelids in a dark red. She smiled, this was so nice.

"Ruby?" Sapphire asked. She could feel her stroking at her neck.

"Hmm?" Ruby replied, half s responds half a weak moan because now her neck felt really good.

"Why do you always wear that headband?" She asked. Ruby rubbed her face hard against her neck, held her a bit tighter. She sighed as she thought about why, and she decided to tell her the story. Not even Hank and Mona knew, not that it was a bad thing but..

"It umm, it's a memorabilia." She mumbled. She stroked Sapphire's back as she felt her massaging her neck gently.

"From where?" Sapphire asked. Ruby still had her eyes closed but moved her face a bit up so she could be heard better.

"M-my mom, sort of. See, when I was like 6 or 7 or something, I kept nagging her about my dad. 'Cause ya know I didn't know him. I asked her if he existed, what he was like'n all. I don't think she liked him too much, so she must have been annoyed by it. One day she told me she got a letter from him, and in it was well, a small letter where it stood that he existed and that he was my dad, nothing else. And this headband of all things. Mom told me to stop now that I knew, and I did. I started wearing it all the time, sort of like protection. I got into fights at school already them of course, so I wanted my dad to protect me." She said calmly.

"How nice of him to send you that then." Sapphire said. Ruby giggled.

"No Sapphire, he didn't send it to me. My mom bullshitted me to shut me up. That was all. But it was sort of a nice gesture on her part, I guess. I sure believed he did for a long while." She said again. This time with a somewhat sad tone. Sapphire hugged her tightly for a few seconds, before she relaxed her grip again.

"Then why do you wear it?" Sapphire asked further.

"I got used to wearing it. But I guess I also want it to be true. At least I got something from my dad then." She responded. Sapphire moved her head back and looked at her. Ruby opened her eyes, found herself locked in a sympathetic gaze. The hand that had been behind her neck now pressed at her cheek.

"I know how you feel. My dad never sent me anything either. Even though I got Arild he's not my dad, and there's this void. Like, didn't he want me? Or does he even know I exist?" Sapphire said with a low voice, then she sighed. Ruby smiled a bit, lifted her hand as well. Began stroking some hair behind Sapphire's ear.

"I always used to fantasize about him showing up at home or in school, and he would say: Nobody is allowed to hurt my child. And then he would take me away, and I would be safe and happy." She said. Sapphire smiled.

"Yeah me too. Of course he never did, but that's OK. It feels like you can be the one to take me away now, and keep me safe." She responded. Ruby looked at her, a lump emerged in her throat.

"Really?" She asked, her voice cracked a bit. Sapphire nodded. Ruby knew the weight of those words. That kind of constant longing. Did she really eliminate some of that for Sapphire? Their time together had been short, but Ruby knew she had filled some of the void too. She had thought it was silly, that she was just so happy to have someone it clouded how she felt about things. But now it wasn't just her, Sapphire had the same feelings. She felt herself tear up, for a second Sapphire noticed. Then Ruby leaned in on her and kissed her. Moved herself over her as a tear ran from her eye and dripped on Sapphire's cheek. She kissed her hard, opened her mouth and found her tongue with hers. Kissed her as she sighed deeply with her nostrils. Sapphire pressed at her head with both her arms, kissed her back just as hard. What she had said seemed to mean a lot too, or maybe she comforted her because she had cried? They kissed so passionately it felt different. Yes, this felt like a different kind of kiss. They had only been together for two days, had only knows each other for a few weeks, kissed for the first time for about a week ago. One could wonder how deep it could get in such a short amount of time. Yet, this kind of feeling came, this kind of kiss. Ruby knew it was special because she didn't kiss her to make herself feel good, or because she was desiring her. Now she attempted to express what she felt. It was impossible, but she tried. Sapphire was here, and she was so amazing, it meant so much that Ruby meant so much to her.

Now first she really believed that Sapphire wanted to stay with her. All those years alone, all the pressure, with her shoulders tightened she had existed and walked around alone. Walking on eggshells around the people among her, and when she failed she was either punished or sent away. Then Hank and Mona had showed her she was worth having. And she had relaxed a bit more. Still worried, but she had finally accepted it. This felt similar.

Sapphire had told her many times now that she was beautiful, even know she still felt she wasn't. She had told others that they were together, including her stepdad and little brother. She went through so much trouble with her mom just to be with her, and challenges will come at school as well. She did it all because she truly wanted to be with her. It meant so much, she felt so wanted. She had never been wanted. She finally believed it, what Sapphire had said. That she wanted them to be together. They had sort of had sex maybe, as if her body wasn't gross. As if her fat and muscles and sweat wasn't disgusting at all. She had touched her hair as if its curls weren't ugly. Stroked her skin as if she hadn't washed herself with shit.

The bruises from the hands of her mother, her countless classmates crowing in on her from everywhere, they were replaced with Sapphire's soft touch. Instead of being hit and held down, instead of being kicked and spit at, she was stroked and kissed, held gently. As if to smooth the pain. The very thought made her eyes tear up even more. She was so released, so happy. She didn't stop kissing Sapphire for a second. The sense of time had vanished. As she stroked her hair and kissed her lips, her body shock slightly. Her face tightened, more and more tears dripped down. She released, sobbed silently close to her face. Sapphire removed her arms from the back of her head, grabbed Ruby's face by hand. Began kissing her gently on her cheeks and when Ruby closed her eyes as she sobbed a bit louder, Sapphire kissed her eyelids as well. Sapphire still held her head when she opened her eyes and looked at her. Ruby would see that she was crying as well, only much more silently.

"Why are you crying?" Ruby asked in a shaky whisper. Sapphire smiled a bit.

"It's just so sad to see you like this baby." She replied and sniffed. Ruby smiled to her, gave away a weak sob, and kissed her again. Then she moved her head down to Sapphire's cleavage once more and pressed her face against her breasts, sniffed. Sapphire began stroking her hair again.

"You're amazing Saffy." She whispered and sighed deeply. She closed her eyes, her face felt somewhat numb.

"You too baby." Sapphire responded. Ruby pressed her hands against Sapphire's back and smiled, giggled soundlessly to herself.

Baby.

* * *

Hank and Mona had come home, and after a while they had put on their sweaters again. Walked down to the hallway and gotten dressed. Sapphire didn't bring her hat or scarf, so she borrowed all she needed from Ruby, who had at least two of everything.

They walked out of the door, Sapphire first. She walked down the stairs that still didn't have any snow on it. Then she stepped onto the ground filled with stepped down snow. Ruby came in behind her, grabbed her gloved hand. Her face heated up as she turned to her and looked her in the eyes. The light outside was so bleak, every pore on her skin showed. But it was clean and smooth still. Her almost deep golden eyes reflected in the sunlight, they looked straight at her for a moment. She seemed so happy right now, it was a relief to see. Sapphire could help but smile and give her a small quick kiss on the lips. Then they started moving towards the sea.

Ruby had taken off her headband inside, and put on that red-ish purple knitted hat she looked so cute in. They walked out from the driveway, their feet pressed against the snow. Made that almost muted walking sound. It had been a while since she had heard those sounds, they were calming. She sighed, damp arose from her mouth and nose.

They walked on the side of the road still hand in hand. A car drove past them, she smelled smoke for half a second. The sea could now be seen fully, and the waved beating gently to shore seemed to dominate the soundscape. Ruby had said going to the shore in winter wasn't optimal, but Sapphire had insisted. It wasn't beach summer fun she wanted, it was the sea. She stared at it as they walked towards it. Ruby walked beside her but led the way. They walked out of the road and into the snow. It wasn't that deep. But Sapphire had borrowed some taller wormer shoes. Ruby wore the same kind. They stepped into the snow, Ruby first. She held Sapphire's hand firmly, looked back at her and smiled.

"I can't remember last time I walked here when it had snowed." She said.

"So this is a good idea after all then?" Sapphire asked playfully. Ruby nodded as she giggled, looked straight ahead again. They walked past another house which seemed old and worn down. It was dark and empty, even slightly scary. Sapphire stared at it, passed it. They stepped down on to the shoreline. It looked smooth but when they stepped over it stones could be felt underneath. A few seagulls were still left and they screamed. It almost sounded like they were in agony. Where the sea hit the shoreline it was dark grey, filled with rocks. It seemed that the show there was being washed away. The sky was clear and blue, the ocean was in a slightly darker shade, but it was bright and blue as well. They walked as close to it as possible without getting wet. She looked down at the waves as they made their way almost to the tip of their feet, then faded back again into the sea. They foamed and moved, made the dark stones blank and cold. Sapphire sighed lightly and smiled. It was something about the sea that made her so calm. Almost as if it was in her blood to be drawn to it.

Ruby let go of her hand and placed her arm behind her back, just below the shoulder bones. She pressed her closer to her. And Sapphire moved her arm up, leaned it on Ruby's shoulder on the other side, going behind her back. They pressed their cheeks together while looking at the sea. Her cheek was as always really warm, and she realized hers must be pretty cold then.

"This is nice." Ruby said. Sapphire hugged her a bit tighter.

"Yes." She said. Ruby turned her head slightly and began kissing her cheek a few times. Sapphire smiled and let it happen. Her stomach tingled. Then Ruby bent down, grabbed hold of her waist with both of her arms and lifted her up. Sapphire was caught by surprise.

"Waah Ruby!" Sapphire yelled. Ruby laughed hard and shouted:

"Got'ya!" She walked away from the shore as she carried Sapphire in her arms.

"Weee!" She yelled. Sapphire was on top, bent her back slightly forward as she giggled.

"Be careful!" She shouted. Ruby made a point to try and jump a few times. Fear filled her, but she wasn't that scared. Ruby's face was pressed against her belly.

"Don't fall!" She yelled as she laughed.

"If I fall you'll fall on me!" Ruby shouted in return.

"I don't wanna hurt you!" Sapphire responded. She was immediately let go, her feet fell on the snow. She felt round rocks beneath her feet. She immediately met Ruby's beautiful face. The damp from their mouths mixed. She could hear the waves and the seagulls.

"Saffy." She said and giggled. She leaned in and gave her a few closed kisses before hugging her tightly. Sapphire blushed as she saw the sea wave into shore. She hugged her in return, smiled before she moved back.

"Let's try this again a bit more carefully." She said. She moved her body slightly to the side in Ruby's grip. Lifted the arm closest to her. Ruby understood and smiled. She bent down and moved her other arm under Sapphire knees and lifted her up like a princess.

"There, if you lose balance I can just go back down on my feet." Said Sapphire. Ruby started walking carefully again. Sapphire sighed and leaned her head against Ruby's shoulder while looking up at the sky. Her heart beat fast.

This was such a beautiful day.

* * *

Sapphire walked out of Arild's car, looked over at her tall red school. It snowed, she wore her white hat and scarf, and her blue coat. She looked at the details on the blank windows with ugly curtains in them. Most of them looked like mirrors that reflected the gray sky in front of them. Sapphire felt fear increase in her stomach, she sighed deeply. Here it goes, she thought and started walking. The show was stepped on under her feet. Somehow it wasn't as enjoyable to listen to now.

She walked up the metal stairs and inside the school buildings. Someone walked in behind her, she didn't look back and continued walking. She tensed up as students gathered in the room filled with lockers. She found hers and unlocked her locker. Put her clothes in quickly, switched shoes to her slippers. Students surrounded her, she made sure not to make eye contact with any of the, afraid they would see. Afraid they would comment on her.

She walked across the long halls with her backpack on, she looked down at her feet. Students sat along the walls and chatted. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to her. She found the stairs and walked up past one door going outside, continued upwards. She came to the blue and green door, walked through the green one. She walked into the classroom, the movable door was closed. Students sat on their places and talked. Artur sat on his desk and looked at his cellphone, he looked up and nodded to her. She nodded back. She sat down by her desk, sighed again. She looked over at Camilla and the girls who sat by Camilla's desk as always. They stopped talking, looked at her. Fear burned in her chest.

"Hey Sapphire?" A deep voice said from behind. She turned around. It was one of the other boys in class, a boy called Andreas. They had never talked before. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He smiled, it was suspicious.

"Yes?" She replied. Artur also looked at him.

"Is it true that you're a dyke now?" He asked. Sapphire screamed inside of her, but outside she sighed and pressed her lips together.

"Dyke is a bad word you know." She replied.

"So you're a dyke then?" He asked again.

"I am a lesbian yes, what about it?" She responded. Andreas' eyes widened, then he smiled and turned around.

"Hey guys!" He shouted to his friends. "It's true!" His friends laughed in awe as they said:

"What really? No way!" Andreas turned to Sapphire again.

"Are you sure? You don't look like one." He stated.

"How I look has nothing to do with who I like." Said Sapphire, she felt like exploding from the inside.

"Sure you do. Dykes look kind of like boys. Like that tomboy that used to go here.." He turned and looked at his friends, continued: "Ya know the black angry one."

"You mean Ruby?" Artur asked with his thin voice, Sapphire looked over at him. He smiled to her. Andreas turned around again, looked at her.

"Yes! Thank you. Like that, that's how dykes look. Not like you. Wait, you dykes all know each other right?" He asked. Artur did a light face palm on himself and sighed while Sapphire looked down.

"Ruby is her girlfriend you idiot!" Camilla shouted. Sapphire covered her face with her hands, felt like crying.

"What! No way, but she's crazy!" Andreas shouted and laughed. Ruby save me from this hell, she thought.

The teacher came in, shouted:

"Good day everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend!" Sapphire removed the hands from her face, saw everyone get into their places. Oh thank god, she thought and sighed with relief.

"You OK?" Artur whispered to her. She turned to him and nodded.

"But now it's Monday and it's time to learn some history!" The teacher said with a bright smile. She sure seemed to have a good weekend.

"I didn't say anything I promise." Artur whispered.

"I know." Sapphire responded. Then she looked down, she still felt afraid. She leaned her head on her hand as she listened to the teacher boost about what kind of history lesion they were going to be taught today. She talked about ancient Rome as some students sighed, didn't seem to want to learn about that. Sapphire couldn't care less right now. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Sapphire walked through the halls with a science book in her arms. She felt the anxiety cripple within her, but not enough for her to have a panic attack. The wait was dreadful if it ever came at all. She felt that people stared at her when she walked past them or beside the, even if they didn't. She walked fast, looked up only when she needed to.

She arrived outside the classroom, it must still have been locked because half the people in her class waited outside. Most of them sat against the walls and talked to each other. Sapphire placed herself a bit away from all the others. Artur was in the other group who didn't have science right now so nobody would even think to walk up to her, thankfully. She leaned against the wall, slid down and sat herself on the floor with her book in her lap. Sighed as she dragged up her phone. The volume on her phone was turned off during school, Ruby had sent her a text. They hadn't seen each other since Saturday. The entire Sunday without her was dreadful, but Arild and Nina and Ola had been busy attending a soccer tournament, and she had to come because Ola had wanted her to be there. It was scary and boring at the same time, she had texted Ruby all day that day. She opened the text from Ruby:

"How's your day? I miss you. " Sapphire smiled, began texting back.

"It's kinda bad. I miss you too, how is your day?" She replied and sent the message. Only about ten seconds passed before she got a reply.

"Mine is kinda bad too. When are you done today?" Sapphire texted back:

"Half past 2, and you?" She looked to the side, thought she heard someone whisper her name. Camilla and her friends, and Andreas and his friends had their heads close together. They all sat in a small group. When she looked at them they stopped and looked at her, Sapphire looked down again. Waves of fear went up her spine. A new text came from Ruby:

"I'm done half past 3. Sorry." Sapphire frowned and texted back:

"I'll wait for you. Just come to my school when you're done." When she sent the text message she leaned her head back and looked straight ahead, she could still hear them whispering. She sighed again. Looked at her phone, Ruby had texted back:

"OK, I will." And a heart. Sapphire smiled and felt a slight blush grow in her cheeks. She was looking forward to see her again. She imagined jumping on her when they re-united and kissed her all over her pretty face.

"Hey Sapphire!" Camilla yelled from her side, Sapphire turned her head. Camilla looked at her with a smile on her face, wide eyes, and her hand up against her slip lips. She had split her index finger and long finger in two and had the rest of her fingers down. In-between she had her tongue out and made a licking motion with it. Sapphire's eyes widened. Camilla only did it for about 3 seconds, when she stopped she burst out laughing along with the other teens around her. All the other ones who sat against the wall around them saw, and some of them smiled. Sapphire stared down at the floor and blushed as she teared up. The rattle of keys interrupted it and she looked up. The science teacher Øyvind came. Everyone stood up and pretended as if nothing had happened. Øyvind was a small man who worked too much and probably ate too little. He was very skinny, had short blond hair and big blue eyes.

"Hello!" He shouted sternly with a dark but high pitched voice. Sapphire stood up as if her body was heavy. Øyvind unlocked the classroom door and opened it, walked inside. The other teens walked in behind him. Camilla and the girls grinned at her as they walked in. Sapphire sighed and walked in last.

* * *

Sapphire sat in her green classroom again. She ate a slice of bread from her packed lunch as she still read American gods. She tried not to look around herself, concentrated on the book.

"So, umm, what did you do this weekend?" Artur asked beside her, she looked up at him, jumped a bit. He sat there and ate his food without really doing anything. She felt a bit sorry for him.

"Let's see. On Friday and Saturday I was with Ruby. And on Sunday I went to my little brother's soccer tournament. And you?" She replied.

"I was at home playing video games as usual." He replied.

"Oh really? What do you play?" She asked. His face lit up. Before he got to answer Andreas eating a banana dragged a chair in front of her desk and sat down with his legs spread wide. As if he was trying to be manly.

"If you're gonna be a lesbian at least you could be with a hot girl." He stated passionately.

"Excuse me, we were talking." Artur said. Andreas lifted his other hand and waved with it towards Artur, chewed and swallowed while he said:

"Yeah yeah." He then put his elbow on her desk and smiled to her.

"I mean, what does scissoring feel like?" He asked further. Her eyes widened again, she could hear Camilla and the girls giggling from afar.

"Go away Andreas! Nobody cares about your stupid questions." Artur yelled out. Sapphire relaxed a bit, looked at him.

"OK Gees!" Andreas yelled out and stood up. Sapphire looked down, she held her firsts together tightly under the desk. He walked off, Sapphire sighed again and loosened up her hands. She looked over at Artur.

"Thanks." She said.

"You're welcome. And I like to play WoW and ESO." Artur responded.

"ESO?" Sapphire asked, she was still tense but tried to pretend as if nothing had happened.

"Elder Scrolls Online." Artur said.

"Oh, never heard of it." Sapphire replied, Artur giggled. His laugh reminded her of Ola's. She smiled.

"Sorry. I don't know anything about video games. I really don't play much." She continued.

"That's OK." Then he went on to tell her all about both WoW and ESO. She didn't really care but she listened. She thought maybe if she was busy she would be left alone, and maybe she was right. Because they didn't talk to her much more before class started again.

* * *

Sapphire sat on her desk and doodled when the teacher clapped her hands once and said:

"Thanks for today." The second she did almost all the students got up, and the sounds of chairs being dragged over the floor dominated the room for a few seconds. People walked to their lockers on the side of the wall, locked them up and got out the books they needed for homework. Sapphire stayed put. Artur got up beside her and walked to his locker, did the same as all the others. Sapphire continued doodling. It was a man with big curly hair, she smiled as she made his hair bigger and bigger.

Artur came back and began filling his backpack with his schoolbooks. When he was done closing it he looked at Sapphire.

"Aren't you gonna get your books?" He asked.

"Nope, I'm gonna stay here and do my homework." Sapphire responded.

"Oh, OK." He replied. He got his backpack and disappeared into a small crowd that walked out of that one small door, they crowded together. Sapphire looked at them. Almost like cheap, she thought and smiled. When they were out of sight she looked around herself. The classroom had two other students left, who seemed to be doing what she planned to do. The movable wall behind them opened completely, pushed by some students. The students from the other side and the two others from her class gathered tables and chairs and they chatted and laughed. Sapphire looked at them with her back turned. It was as if they had a secret life without her. She smiled, turned to her desk again and doodled some more.

* * *

Sapphire had finished her homework all alone while the 5 other students behind her had chatted and laughed and done their homework together. Sapphire was a bit anxious but not so much so that she felt the need to leave. She found her phone and looked at the time. It was ten minutes away from being half past 3. While she did her homework Ruby and sent her a text, said she would call when she was close, said she might be a bit late. She apparently had a meeting with her teacher, but it was more on her subjects so it was no big deal. So now she still waited, and she began to get bored.

She heard them whisper her name, she shut her eyes hard. Oh no not again, she thought, she tensed up.

"Hey Sapphire!" One of them shouted, a girl from the other class. She didn't know her name, but she still turned around quickly, looked at them.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Do you wanna sit with us?" The girl asked. She had long blond hair and glasses. Sapphire smiled, stood up.

"Yeah OK." She said. Challenge yourself socially, Liv had said. Now she was doing it. And it seemed somewhat safe. She walked over to them even though she could feel her stomach twisting with fear. As if she was doing something bad and knew it. She sat down with them on an empty chair. Heidi, a girl from her class looked at her. She had orange curly hair and pretty freckles all over her face. She was also kind of chubby. She had never bothered anyone with anything, ever.

"Hey." She said to Sapphire.

"Hello." Sapphire said back to her.

"Ya know, don't listen to Andreas and Camilla and the others, they're just stupid." Heidi said.

"Thanks." Sapphire replied.

"What have they done now?" Said the girl who asked her to come over.

"He walked over to her and asked her what it feels like to scissor." Heidi replied with a mad facial expression.

"Why would they ask that to her?" The girl asked again and Looked at Sapphire.

"Well she did say she was a lesbian so I guess that's why." Heidi replied. The other girl from the other class spoke up. She had light blond hair that reached to her jawline, and bright green eyes. She gaped.

"You are!? Me too!" She yelled out, She stood up and put her hand out.

"High five!" She said, Sapphire giggled, stood up and gave her a weak high fine, then they both sat down.

"I normally keep it a secret though. You're so brave for just saying it like that." She said enthusiastically.

"Thanks but I'm not really doing it for me, so it doesn't feel that bad." Sapphire responded. They all stared at her now, she felt nervous. Maybe she got a bit too comfortable because one of them was a lesbian too?

"What do you mean?" Asked the girl she talked to.

"I umm.." Said Sapphire. "I have a girlfriend and people have seen us together so now I gotta stick to it. She kinda needs that." Sapphire said. Heidi leaned forward towards Sapphire.

"You mean Ruby? I thought they said that just to tease you." She asked.

"No it's true." Sapphire responded. The girl who also was a lesbian put both her hands on the table.

"You're with Ruby!? THAT Ruby?" She yelled. Sapphire nodded. "Dark skin, afro hair, beefy arms?" The girl asked further, Sapphire nodded again.

"So you remember her?" Sapphire asked almost apologetically.

"Boy do I!?" The girl answered. Then she started laughing. "Oh my god I remember Tommy picked on her all day and then he stole my books and she saw, and he was like: What are you staring at you fucking dyke? And she just jumped on him and beat the living crap out of him. He totally deserved it!" She said and laughed. The girl beside her looked at her.

"I remember that. Didn't his friends come and beat her up as well? She had a blue eye for a week." She said. The girl she spoke to nodded with a frown.

"And she was always so mad, like, I've never seen anyone get so angry." Heidi added. Sapphire sighed, spoke up.

"Yeah well, Ruby is a complicated person. She has issues but.. She's so nice, I honestly find it so hard to understand how anyone could see her as crazy, or mean."

"Oh she was never mean. Like, she refused to do school work and she was often late, but the only times she actually hurt someone was because they were mean to her or someone else, and it was always clear she was so mad that she, ya know.. Couldn't help it. She wasn't like Andreas, who's a douche. " The girl with the green eyes and blond hair said, she crossed her arms as she spoke.

"She always looked kinda sad." Said the girl beside her.

"Did she go in your class?" Sapphire asked, they both nodded.

The door opened behind her, they all looked to see who it was. Sapphire smiled and stood up. It was Ruby. How did she know where I was? She thought. Ruby wore a slim winter jacket, it was bright red. And a gray hoodie underneath, she had the hood over her head. But her headband still showed. She smiled.

"Heyheey!" She yelled. Sapphire walked over to her fast and hugged her hard. Her body heated up and for the first time today she didn't feel tense at all. Ruby pressed her face down at her shoulder for a few seconds. Then they released, Ruby smiled to her and looked down at her mouth.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." Sapphire replied. They leaned in and gave each other a gentle peck on the lips. Sapphire blushed as they released and looked around at the girls watching them from the desks they had put together.

"Hello everyone.." Ruby said rather awkwardly. Sapphire giggled lightly as all the other girls waved at her and said hello at the same time. Sapphire grabbed her hand, dragged her to the desk she had been sitting alone at.

"This is my desk, and that is where Artur sit." She said and pointed at his desk.

"Oh." Ruby said. Sapphire let go of her hand and grabbed her books in a pile, walked over to her locker and put them in as she said:

"And this is my locker." She walked over to her desk again and put the rest of her things in her backpack in a hurry while she blushed and said:

"I thought you were gonna call me when you were done?" Ruby smiled.

"Yeah well, I figured I might as well surprise you. It seemed more fun." She responded. Sapphire giggled a bit, even if she hadn't said anything funny. She was just so cute. Ruby smiled at her and raised her eyebrows, a faint blush came on her cheeks. Sapphire put on her backpack and grabbed Ruby by the hand. As they started walking she looked over at the girls who still stared at them.

"Bye." She said and waved.

"Bye." Two of them said, the two others waved. Ruby waved to them as well. They walked out of the classroom, the door closed behind them. They were standing in the small open hallway coming from the stairs. Ruby moved in front of her and before she knew it they kissed again. Her soft lips dragged themselves over hers slowly a few times and made her face heat up immediately. They released, Ruby looked at her. Her gaze was loving, but also a tad bit sad. Sapphire lifted her hand and stroked her cheek gently with her palm. Ruby closed her eyes and sighed, leaned in again and kissed her a few more times. Whatever had happened to her today she seemed to be needing it, and honestly, Sapphire really needed it too. This safety, this closeness, it made her awful day a tad bit better. They released, Ruby tugged at her arm. They soon followed each other down the stairs. They reached the split and stood before the door. Ruby opened it, the second the door opened cold wind blew in their faces. Sapphire leaned on her as she shivered, Ruby put her arm over her shoulder and pressed her close. They smiled to each other as they walked outside and onto the snow. The sky was gray and sad and the weather was cold and uninviting. But it was so much beautiful now that Ruby was here.

Ruby had in fact not gotten trouble with the teacher. But people had been mean to her still, as always. Ruby was so amazing, why couldn't everyone else also see that?


	8. Chapter 8 Nubility

boltsofacceptance . tumblr . com

* * *

Triggers: Anxiety, parental emotional abuse, rape. Adult content: Sex.

* * *

Note:

When i write "park suits", I mean to describe this onsie made for winter, that I don't have the word for in english and tried to google my way around and ask for help but nobody answered. If you think you know the answer please check my tumblr! There will also be a picture of the suits so you know what they look like.

* * *

Ruby was sitting in the classroom. She looked around herself while sitting by her desk in silence. It was recess, only a short one which lasted for ten minutes. Students around her chatted and laughed, joked and got annoyed with each other. Ruby sat silently with her arms crossed, sighed. Someone shouted her way.

"Hey Ruby!" She didn't even turn her head to look. She heard some of the boys whisper her name and giggle, maybe they got a few funny ideas? She thought and started dreaded it already. All she wanted was for school to end, then she would walk down to Garden City school and meet Sapphire. Sometimes she wished Sapphire went to her school but then again, maybe if she did she would have an even worse time.

"Heey Ruby!" Someone shouted again. She knew it was Alexander. She turned to him and shouted:

"WHAAT!?" Alexander and his friends held up a drawing of a badly drawn vagina.

"What do you think? Is it nice?" He asked. Ruby gave off a week fake laugh, almost soundless, then she looked away again. She crossed her arms a bit tighter, sat with her legs spread apart. Alexander found her desk which had one closed book on it and sat himself on it. He had brought the drawing.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked. He looked down at her, moved the drawing up and pointed at it.

"See this is a vagina, not that you have one. And here's the opening, see?" He said gently with a mocking tone, as if he wanted to teach her, as if she didn't know.

"What the fuck is your problem Alex?" She asked angrily.

"I just wanted to teach you, that's all." He said with a grin. Ruby felt anger bobble within her.

"As if you know the first thing about vaginas, you probably haven't even seen one in real life, now get the fuck away from me before I beat all your teeth out!" She yelled as she stood up and pointed at him. Many heads in the classroom turned and looked at her, but they weren't shocked. Alexander stepped off her desk, left the drawing on it. He looked at her and patted it a few times as if it was a pet.

"There, something for you to look at." He said and giggled, she pushed him away. He jogged over to his friends and they all burst out laughing. Ruby sat down, took the piece of paper and curled it, threw it at them as they laughed even louder. They were so stupid if she hadn't been bugged so much she would have giggled too, maybe if Sapphire was here they would laugh at them together. Because this was just so pathetic.

The teacher came in and the boys soon found their places. Simon came in with two books in his arms and a laptop.

"Hello everyone!" He shouted with a smile. Ruby pulled her pencil case out of her backpack and dragged the book on her desk a bit closer to herself. It was a Norwegian textbook.

"Today we are going to continue reading about Nynorsk and how it came about!" He said, many students sighed with annoyance, nynorsk, or rather, new Norwegian was the second official written language in Norway. She knew some guy a hundred years ago or so went all over the country and gathered words from all the dialects and merged it all into a second written language that wasn't based on Danish. It used to be a jewel, now every teen in every school had to learn in because of its cultural heritage, and everyone hated it. Reading about it wasn't the worst. They had to read it, and write it, and it was hard.

Some students had their books already on their desks, like Ruby, while others went to get theirs from their lockers in the classroom. Simon and Ruby made eye contact among lockers opening and closing, among students moving about. He wore a dark shirt, and was his always half bald friendly self. He looked at her, and he smiled. She smiled back.

Her meeting with her head teacher one might think would have helped. There she had been informed that if she didn't start trying soon, she might not pass in all the subjects she needed to apply for further education down the line. Not that she had any ambitions, but it wasn't that.

Honestly, it was Sapphire. She really liked the concept of school, she tried really hard and got good grades. Seeing her fear it so much yet attend, it made Ruby want to at least try. She wasn't scared of school, she didn't get no panic attacks just by being here, she could at least try.

And Simon saw that. She got a good feeling in her body, the tides were turning.

* * *

Sapphire sat on the bus stop. It was dark, the cold snow muted all the sounds coming from all around her, except for the cars that drove by. She held around herself as she breathed with might, it was so cold right not it was hard to think. It damped from her mouth, it prickled on her face. She wore her hat as far down as she could, her scarf covered her chin. Her gloves were thick and white. Her hair covered her shoulders, had little snowflakes on them. Even though she was cold, inside she was burning. She hadn't seen Ruby all day, and she knew she would soon. It was hard to think indeed, but images of Ruby entered her mind still. She smiled to herself for a bit, bent down over her legs. She wore her last pair of pants, but the others had been washed by now so it was okay. Her lip trembled. This was the coldest day yet this year, and more would come.

She heard footsteps and moved herself up. It was Ruby, she smiled and ran across the road. Sapphire remained seated. Ruby wore her purple knitted hat, and her bubble jacket with the hood over her head. She wore gloves, and a red scarf. Her bag hung across her shoulder and chest. When she reached Sapphire she stood up from her seat and they hugged tightly.

"Heeeey Saffy, you look cold."

"That's because I am cold." Sapphire replied with a shivering smile. They released, moved their faces together and kissed. Ruby's face as always was really warm and a tad bit sweaty. She released and smiled, lights from the bus stop booth lit up her face. Sapphire looked at her and blushed.

"I've been thinking about you all day." She said.

"Me too." Ruby replied, moved away for a bit and took off her bag. She pulled down the zipper on her jacket and opened it.

"Come, I'll warm you." She said. Sapphire smiled, put her arms inside her jacked and held around her back while they embraced again. Ruby was so warm inside her jacket it was such a relief. She could think clearly again, and sighed. She felt Ruby kiss her close to her ear, she smiled and felt her face heating up. The prickling stopped.

"Have you had a good day at school?" She asked. Ruby moved them back and made Sapphire sit down again while she replied:

"It's been alright. And you?" She sat herself on Sapphire's lap and moved her legs to each of her sides. Sapphire pressed her face against her shoulder inside of the jacket and closed her eyes.

"I didn't have a panic attack today so I guess that's something. But Andreas won't stop talking to me, it's getting annoying." She answered, as she finished speaking she felt Ruby embrace her a bit harder.

"Have you talked to a teacher?" She asked.

"I will soon, if he doesn't stop. But it hasn't even been a week, so I'll wait a bit." Sapphire replied while she rubbed her forehead against Ruby's scarf. Ruby moved herself back, made their eyes meet.

"Don't wait too long OK? If you do it might become too big for the teachers to fix. And please try to avoid him, and ignore him." She said, her eyes were firm but concerned.

"Yes yes, I will. And that's what I'm doing. But he's in my class, avoiding him at least is really hard." Sapphire said, she sighed and looked down for a moment.

"I'm sorry for making it even harder for you at your school. I wish I could do something." Ruby stated with a sad tone. Sapphire looked up at her again.

"No Ruby, don't apologize for something you haven't done. They're doing this, not you. And besides, it's totally worth it." She said, Ruby smiled gently at her. Their noses touched, Ruby looked down at her mouth.

"Yeah, people keep shouting dyke after me at school as if it's a bad thing. But I really enjoy being one." She stated and giggled, she smiled with her teeth. Her bubbly laughter made Sapphire giggle too and blush hard. They pushed their faces even closer together, their lips almost met.

"I enjoy it too. Like, a lot." She commented. They giggled together for a few moments before their lips met again. Her lips were warm and moist, even more so when their surroundings were so cold. Ruby moved her arms over her shoulders and pressed at her head. Sapphire tilted her head, opened her mouth and made their tongues meet. It was even warmer, even wetter. They found their rhythm automatically and she began to stroke her back under her jacket. Sapphire smiled in their kiss, felt her heart beat faster and her belly tickling. It was strange how much they enjoyed kissing each other. They did it almost too much, but Ruby was the same so who could stop them?

She felt her tongue massage hers, her lips being dragged gently, her breath filling her being. Their saliva mixed, her face grew warmer. Cars drove by, people talking were heard in the distance. Maybe they would pass them, maybe not, she didn't care. This beautiful moment would pass, and she would have to fall asleep all alone. And be scared at school all day tomorrow, until meeting her again. Until they got to kiss each other again. This longing was torture, but she loved every second of it.

They released and looked at each other, Ruby's eyes were relaxed and she smiled. She blushed too.

"You're so beautiful." Sapphire whispered. Ruby leaned in again and gave her a long closed kiss. She sighed deeply with her nose. When she released she said:

"You too." A bit louder. Sapphire sighed deeply too, the damp coming from their mouths mixed. It was even more visible than normal because of the lamp that lit above them. For a moment she felt so sad, she wanted to come with her when Hank picked her up. She wanted to dress off with her and be held when she fell asleep. As if to recharge her for the next scary day. This safe space she had felt on Halloween. She had almost had it. And they had to wait for it to happen again. A nap together wasn't the same thing. She pulled out her hand from under Ruby's arm, took off her glove and touched her face gently. Ruby's hands behind her head moved down, and her gloved hands landed on both sides of her head. She began stroking her hair and ears over her hat.

"I want to go with you." Sapphire stated gently. Ruby pushed their faces a bit closer together. Their noses were right beside each other, she closed her eyes.

"Me too Saffy." Ruby replied in a soft whisper. Sapphire moved her hand back in under Ruby's arm, and pressed their chests and boobs together. Their lips met hard, she heard Ruby's breath being slightly shaky. Maybe she was becoming a bit emotional as always. Sapphire didn't even respond to it, just kissed her harder with her closed mouth. Then she worked her way on her cheek and to her jawline before she pushed her face against her scarf and hugged her hard. Ruby's hands that had been on her head moved themselves behind her head again and her strong arms and bubble jacket embraced her head once again.

A car parked behind them, Ruby looked behind herself. It was Hank. She turned back, looked at Sapphire for a second before she leaned I and gave her a few closed kisses. After she moved back and stood up. Sapphire stood up as well, their embrace had been broken. She felt so cold again. Ruby grabbed her bag as she turned to Sapphire again and said:

"Bye Saffy. I'll see you tomorrow." Sapphire embraced her hard and said:

"Good bye." Ruby's jacket was still open, she held the bag in her one hand, but hugged her in return with the other. They kissed again, quickly but hard before they released for the last time today. Sapphire looked at her as she stepped into the car and waved to her in the window. She waved back with her naked hand. Her glove she held in the other. They drove off and the silence came. Sapphire sat herself down in the booth as cold wind blew at her. She put her arms around herself, now she felt even colder after gotten a taste of Ruby's warmth. It would probably take two or so minutes before the bus came. She was all alone now. It was so dark and quiet, she sighed deeply. Looked that the damp that came from her mouth, imagined it to be smoke. She put on her glove, sealed off what she had touched Ruby's face with and accepted this emptiness, at least until tomorrow.

* * *

Sapphire sat on the stairs outside Garden city school. It was cold, and the snow hadn't stopped falling from the sky. Thick bright white snowflakes littered onto the ground and had completely covered it many days ago. Wind blew from the side, but she was somewhat sheltered in there, under the flat roof that connected the school and the gymnasium. Her breath was shaky not just from the cold, but also from the tornado growing from within. Her hands inside her gloves shivered, she looked down at herself in a silent but frantic gaze. It was as if she couldn't concentrate on the fabrics of her jacket. Her eyes flustered, but it probably didn't even show. Sapphire sat there completely alone, as she wished. She disliked being in the company of others mostly, but she had exceptions. She looked up at the door going into the gymnasium. She sighed, the door was closed, and inside was darkness. Ruby had told her in detail what usually happened to her in there. How the glares from the other girls were a bit more intense, how she always got picked last or targeted in the activities they had to do. The showering must have been the worst for her, Sapphire too remembered what that felt like. This year thankfully she only had P.E. at the very end of the school day and could go home and shower instead. Ruby wasn't that lucky. She somehow got a bad continence for not doing more, for not marching in there and yelling at them about what horrible people they were for choosing to hurt such a sweet beautiful person. But they didn't know her nor care about her. And she knew she wasn't able to do such things. Not when she was like this.

She had had a panic attack earlier, maybe ten or so minutes a go in fact, but she had to see her. So now she waited outside. She imagined how the girls from Ruby's class and some from her own school would stare at her when they exited the gymnasium. Their strong stares would dig their way through her scalp and scull and enter her mind. They would inspect every little detail of her character and they would shame her, hate her, despise her. They would know her completely and they would still choose to hurt her.

She felt tears pressing underneath the skin around her eye and prostatic eye. She started hyperventilating slowly with shaky breaths, breathed out with a long "o". She heard the door open, and a bunch of boys came out. She looked at them as she held her breath, they all made eye contact with her. They talked to each other and walked on, didn't mind her one bit. It was a relief. She looked down at her legs, one of her knees shock terribly. This happened sometimes when she kept the tension inside, her hands or legs or feet would shake, and it would feel so relieving. It happened all by itself but she could stop whenever she wanted.

More people came out of the gymnasium but she kept looking down, scared if she made eye contact with them she would break down. She covered her head in her hands and tried to breathe as slowly and silently as she possibly could. I only think I'm in danger, this isn't happening, she though. She tried to recall her many conversations with Liv, her shrink. She had told her to ask herself if thinking this way helped her.

"Acknowledge that what you're feeling isn't real. Nothing is happening, it's all in your head." Her voice played in Sapphire's head like a melody of a song she knew and sang to herself internally. It didn't help. Her breath became more shaky again, people walked out of the gymnasium, it had all been boys, but now it seemed to be some girls too. She felt as if they watched her even when she didn't look at them. The storm turned into a tornado inside of her, and it just kept going. She started hyperventilating silently, she heard the sounds of the door opening again. Shoes against the snow started running.

"Saffy." Ruby's voice said as two strong but gentle arms wrapped themselves around her. Sapphire looked up, tears had gathered in her eyes and when she stared into Ruby's worried look they ran down her cheeks. She could see a few girls standing behind her out of focus. Sapphire closed her eyes and pressed her face hard against Ruby's shoulder. She tried not to sob, but she did whisper with her trembling breath:

"You're finally here." She hugged Ruby tight, and she hugged her back.

"Yes I am. Now come on." Ruby responded. They let go of each other and stood up, Ruby held onto her shoulders.

"Let's go inside." Ruby suggested gently. Sapphire nodded weakly while she looked down, she sniffed. She felt both of Ruby's hands lift from the sides of her shoulders and press against both of her cheeks. Her thumbs stroked over where her tears were, they made eye contact. Ruby's gaze was worried, but she did give away a weak comforting smile. In the background a few girls still stared at them, Ruby didn't even seem to care. Sapphire on the other hand felt that their stares pierced through her skin. She stared at them with wide eyes. Bolts of fear ran up her spine like lightning. She held her breath.

"Heey." Ruby whispered. It made Sapphire look at her again, the very sight of her face toned things down and she breathed out. Ruby leaned in and gave her a few soft closed kisses, it calmed her down a tad bit more. They released after only a couple of seconds and looked at each other. Sapphire smiled weakly at her.

"Ewww." She heard from one of the girls behind Ruby. She turned around while she still held onto Sapphire head, looked at them and yelled:

"Oh go suck a dick you fucking straight girls!" The girls seemed utterly offended and started walking off as one of them flipped off at them. Ruby flipped back as Sapphire couldn't help but giggle a bit. Ruby looked over at her and smiled. She moved both of her hands down behind her back and pressed her against herself.

"That's my Laughy Saffy." She whispered and with a weak giggle, she leaned in and started kissing her cheek, Sapphire giggled again as she started blushing. She felt the anxiety running off her, like a river.

"Ruby." She said in midst of what had become a sea of kisses all over her right cheek. The pecks coming from her lips were soft and warm as always, the sensations made her smile from ear to ear. The door to the gymnasium opened again and a few more girls exited it. Their kissing spree got interrupted and Sapphire froze in her arms. The fear came back in the split second it took for her to recognize the sounds of people walking. Ruby moved one of her arms off her back and pressed with the one that remained.

"Let's go." She said. Sapphire walked up the short stairs behind her as Ruby's arm still rested on her back. The touch was soothing. They open the door and Sapphire walked inside first. Ruby came in behind her and walked right by her side. Students sat in the stairs, they stared at them. Maybe they had seen it all? Sapphire thought and looked down. The stares made their way into her body and it hurt. They walked up the stairs, she looked up. Saw the same teens leaning against the electrical heating oven. Their eyes widened when they saw them, one of them stepped forward and yelled:

"Oh it's you!" It was a girl. The one that had shouted after Sapphire last time, she looked down again. Neither of them answered, they just walked past them all and into the long yellow hallway. Sapphire started hyperventilating slightly, Ruby must have noticed because the grip on her back grew stronger. A few students were spread across the hallway, some noticed them, others didn't. They reached the door, Ruby opened it and they walked inside together. Sapphire walked a few steps forward without her as Ruby closed the door behind them and locked it. The room was empty and quiet. She stood in the middle of the room like a stick, with both of her hands in fists she started hyperventilating faster. She dragged off her gloves and hat. She knew this would happen, it always did if she didn't wait at least half an hour after the first panic attack. She heard Ruby take off her jacket, then she walked around her and stepped in front of her, opened her arms. They embraced hard. She knew it would happen, but it was so worth it seeing her again.

Her knees became weak as she started sobbing in her short breaths. It was as if she was about to collapse, Ruby sat herself down on her knees and dragged Sapphire along with her. Sapphire bent over and rested her head in Ruby's lap. Pressed her face against her thighs covered with black loose pants. She felt a hand stroke over the back of her head, the other moved in-between her shoulder blades. She sobbed hard, her face was tight, and the fear was so unbearable. Nothing existed but the notion of dying.

"It's OK Saffy. I'm here, just get it out." Ruby said softly. It was almost hard to hear since her own screams of agony almost overshadowed all other sounds. But she did catch it. Not that it helped. She pressed her eyes shut as her arms moved themselves around Ruby's back and locked her hands together against her tail bone. She hyperventilated so hard it almost hurt, and her heart beat so fast and hard it became scary. She was dying. The fear became too unreal. Oh my god, she thought as she screamed, I'm dying.

Then it changed, and she calmed down. The loud sobbing stopped, she hyperventilated silently instead. It soon died down too, and the muscles that had tightened all over her body relaxed and she went limp. Her hands behind Ruby's back let go and fell to the floor, her head that she had pressed against Ruby's tights now rested on them as if she wanted to fall asleep. Her face was numb. She sighed deeply, relieved that it was over. For a minute she closed her eyes and rested in complete exhaustion. Then she had lifted her head and sat herself up slowly with a heavy tired body. She looked at Ruby with heavy eyes and tears still smeared all over her cheeks. It felt as if the skin on her face was going to fall off. That it somehow was melting.

Ruby's eyes were wet and her gaze seemed to be a mixture of utter confusion and deep compassion. Her eyes were locked at Sapphire. Ruby moved both of her hands up to Sapphire's cheeks and dried off her tears with her fingers. Her grip was strong, but it didn't hurt.

"That looked so bad Saffy, are you OK?" She asked gently as she tiled her head a bit all the while moving slightly closer. Sapphire nodded with a frown.

"Yeah. I'm fine, thanks for being here." She looked at her. For a second it looked like Ruby was about to cry, she leaned in fast and moved one of her hands behind Sapphire head. She kissed her hard on the lips while she sighed deeply with her nose. Sapphire felt some heat coming back in her face and she relaxed, kissed her back gently. They released, a tear ran down Ruby's eye, she pressed her lips together and shock her head slightly.

"Sapphire." She whispered. Sapphire smiled a bit, put her hand on her shoulder and started stroking her exposed neck.

"So you care that much about me, huh?" She asked and felt tears coming as well, but this was different. Ruby cried because of her, she had never seen anyone do that before. Not even her parents.

"Are you kidding me!? Of course I do!" Ruby yelled out, she pushed Sapphire hard to herself and stretched out her legs, made her sit on her lap. She pushed her face against Sapphire's ear and said:

"It's strange being liked this much isn't it?" She giggled a bit. Sapphire nodded as she put her arms over Ruby's shoulders and moved them around her head.

"Yeah." She whispered in response. She felt Ruby's hands starting to stroke her back, she smiled with a shaky breath. Ruby pushed her back a few inches and kissed her gently on her lips. While her soft warm lips carefully dragged over hers she felt Ruby button down her blue coat. It was dragged off her arms and thrown away. Underneath she had a light blue blouse and dark blue pants. Ruby released and looked her in the eyes. They made eye contact. Sapphire's eyelids were a bit heavy and her face still felt a bit numb.

"You look tired." She said. Sapphire sighed, nodded again and leaned in on her. Kissed her lips with hers a few times before Ruby pushed her against herself again and immediately dragged the back of her blouse out from her pants and moved her hands underneath. Her big hands began stroking her bare back. Sapphire leaned her heavy head on her shoulder and closed her eyes, sighed once more. The tension still remained in her body and her shoulders were up tight. But the gentle strokes on her back did help, and she felt a slight blush on her cheeks. She pressed a bit harder against her as she smiled, her lip shock slightly. She noticed that her hands were shaking too. Ruby must have noticed as well.

"Are you still scared?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's gonna be a while before I'm ready to go out there again." Sapphire replied. Ruby didn't stop stroking her for one second, it felt so good.

"That's OK." She said. "I'll wait with you."

"Thank you baby." Sapphire responded. She felt a few soft kisses against her hair and head.

"You're welcome Saffy." Ruby said. Sapphire began moving her body forward and it made them move slowly down with her on top. Both of her legs were each on Ruby's sides, with her knees pressed against the floor. Her shoes were still on, and the undersides were turned up towards the ceiling. Sapphire pressed her face into the space between Ruby's shoulder and neck, her scarf had been removed. Sapphire's arms were wrapped around her neck. Ruby sighed, stroked her back still.

In the tight embrace Sapphire remembered something and giggled with a short silent breath.

"What?" Ruby asked. Sapphire noticed that she moved her head a bit, she was probably smiling.

"Oh go suck a dick you fucking straight girls." Sapphire said with a gentle smile. Ruby started giggling out loud and her chest shock. Sapphire moved her head up and giggled with her, the tension decreased for a few moments. Ruby moved her a bit more to the side and laughed up in her face. Her hands moved out of Sapphire's blouse and wrapped around her upper arms hard.

"You're pretty funny you know that?" Sapphire commented as the laughter died down.

"Well at least I was blessed with something!" Ruby shouted, Sapphire burst out laughing. The tension completely disappeared. She rolled a bit out of her grip and moved her head up as she laughed. She felt Ruby starting to bathe the side of her face with small kisses. It made her blush, and for some reason made her giggle even more.

"Rubyy." She said. Ruby moved herself over her and jokingly kissed her all over her face hard, Sapphire continued laughing.

"You have been blessed with the power of kissing!" Sapphire shouted. She felt Ruby's hand started tickling her rib.

"The gay power of kissing!" Ruby yelled, Sapphire laughed even more as she continued to be tickled.

"Everyone you kiss turns gay!" Sapphire responded.

"Even the boys!" Ruby shouted as she started laughing hard herself. Ruby stopped kissing her, they looked at each other while they still giggled. Ruby's hands was removed from her ribs and placed on her head, stroking her hair gently. Daylight just barely reached the top of her hair, made her afro curls light up in dark brown. Her dark warm eyes stared directly at her, she sighed lightly at her and said:

"Making you laugh is my favorite thing Saffy." She leaned in and kissed her. Sapphire kissed back while she smiled. She tasted her lips carefully, they were warm and moist. It almost seemed like heat radiated from her face, and she could feel it. Ruby's hand stroked her hair, let herself relax on top of her. She became heavier, but it wasn't too heavy, not even close. They released.

"Nobody has ever done that." Sapphire said.

"Done what?" Asked Ruby.

"Made me laugh after a panic attack." She replied. Ruby's eyes widened for a moment as she smiled.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah." Said Sapphire. She lifted her hand which was still shaking and stroked the hair right above her headband carefully.

"I wish you could be here all the time." She added.

"Yeah, I hate this place but I would totally go if you were here." Ruby said. Then she sighed deeply, it seemed bittersweet. She pressed Sapphire against herself and turned a bit to the side so they both lay on the floor. Sapphire pressed her head against her chest and closed her eyes. Listened to Ruby's heartbeat and breathing.

"I'm glad you're here." She whispered.

"Me too." Ruby whispered in return. The tension still remained, but it was starting to fade properly this time, finally.

* * *

Ruby stood outside her bedroom door. She had just gone to the bathroom and now she looked at the door and sighed. She thought back on what had happened earlier today with Sapphire. How bad her panic attack had looked. It had been painful to look at, but now it was finally over, for now.

She opened the door as silently as she could and stepped into her bedroom which was dark and warm. As light from the hallway lit up her room she could spot Sapphire sleeping in her bed with the covers over herself. When Ruby closed the door it became pitch black. She walked over to the bed with her hands in front of herself, feeling her way towards the edge of the bed. When she found it she crawled into it, put herself under the covers beside Sapphire and put her arm around her. Sapphire had not been awoken, her breaths still had a rhythm to them. Ruby smiled in the darkness, moved herself as close to her as possible without disturbing her and closed her eyes.

She had followed her to her classroom when she was ready. Left to go to her own shitty school for a few hours. No matter how hard some of the boys in her class tried to tease her she hadn't cared. All she thought about was what had happened to Sapphire, how she was doing right now, and how much she wanted the hours to pass so she could be with her again. It seemed, that way Sapphire would be less scared. Maybe some people actually were afraid of her, but Sapphire felt safe with her. That was so odd, yet so nice. And she intended on keeping it that way. They had of course met when school was done, gone home to her own house as always. Sapphire as expected was very tired, had fallen asleep in her arms. Ruby had been awake this whole time.

The body beside her started to move a bit, and twitched slightly in her grip. Sapphire inhaled deeply and breathed out with her mouth. Then she moved her arm over Ruby so they held each other, Ruby smiled.

"Sapphire?" She whispered.

"Hmm?" Sapphire replied in a somewhat deep tired voice.

"Heey." She answered and moved her hand up to her ear, stroked the hair close to it for a bit. Sapphire moved out of her grip, lifted herself up for a second and then landed on top of her and placed her face against her neck. She sighed deeply. Ruby could feel a few weak kisses brushing against her naked neck. They both wore tank tops and pants as always.

"How are you feeling?" Ruby asked.

"Better." Sapphire replied. "How long was I out?"

"Hmm, an hour probably." She answered. Sapphire lifted her head quickly while she said a bit louder:

"A hour?" Then she let her head fall down again and said:

"Crap, now I'm not gonna be able to fall asleep until really late tonight." Ruby giggled.

"That's OK. You can call me." She said, Sapphire giggled a bit too, said:

"I'm gonna keep you up all night long."

"I don't mind." Ruby stated. Sapphire sighed lightly, started stroking her shoulder with her hand.

"Aren't you sweet." She said. She lifted her head up in the darkness and started kissing Ruby's cheek with her soft lips. Ruby started giggling as she closed her eyes, not that it made any difference from when they were open. A strong blush grew in her cheeks.

"I'm so relieved you feel better." She said. Sapphire stopped kissing her cheek and moved her head a bit up. Ruby could feel her breathing very close to her.

"Was I too much?" She asked with a worried tone.

"Nono, Saffy no you weren't. It was just really hard and sad to watch and ya know, I care about your wellbeing and you didn't seem to do very well back there. That's all. It looked like you thought you were dying." Ruby replied.

"Yeah well, that's what I usually think. And very often I want to because it's so painful. But then it passes." Sapphire whispered in return. Ruby lifted both of her hands and held her head.

"I wish I could do more." She said. She could hear Sapphire smiling in her breath.

"You're doing plenty. Don't worry. You're amazing." She whispered, then she leaned in and kissed Ruby on the lips, and she took it.

She kissed her back tenderly and let their closed lips drag themselves over each other slowly. Spit began to fill in her mouth and her face and body began to grow even warmer. Sapphire was on top of her and began wrapping her arms around her head slowly. Her heart started beating faster and butterflies appeared in her belly. She smiled in the kiss, breathed with her nose, let her tongue slip in through her lips. As they opened their mouths widely and Sapphire tiled her head, Ruby moved her hand down and started stroking one of her breasts outside the tank top. Sapphire began moving her upper body back and froth gently as she said:

"Mmm." In a somewhat amused manner, it made Ruby grin and they had to release.

"Cutie." She said. Sapphire giggled. Ruby moved her to the side so that she landed on the other side of the bed on her back. Then she moved herself over her and kissed her hard on the lips. Sapphire seemed to start breathing deeply and slowly. Their mouths were open and their tongues danced and mingled, Ruby moved her hand against her boob again and stroked it. She felt Sapphire move one of her hands against her boob in return, even though it was pressed in by the tightest sports bra she could fit. It felt good. She began to feel it beating in her groin. Sweat hot tingly sensation started coming from it. She smiled in the darkness close to Sapphire's mouth. She moved her head a bit down and began licking and kissing her neck. One of Sapphire tiny hands moved itself on her head and stroked her afro hair. She kissed her neck long and hard and began fading into a hot blur. They started moving their boding gently against one another, but were not in position to do the thing. Ruby's legs were in-between Sapphire's, and hers again were spread to her sides. She felt her legs locking right above her butt as she moved her head up to her face again.

She noticed that Sapphire's chest was shacking a bit and she was sobbing weakly.

"Sapphire? Are you crying? Are you OK?" She asked in a hurry. She lifted her hand up against her cheek and could feel tears running down the sides of her face.

"Yeah I'm fine it's just.." She replied with a shaky voice. "School's so hard and mom's so hard and you're so amazing and beautiful and this is wonderful." She said as she started sobbing a bit harder.

"It's OK Saffy. We can stop if you want." Ruby said while she held her head with both hands.

"No no, I'm OK. Don't stop." Sapphire replied as she shook her head in her grip.

"OK." Ruby said softly and kissed her gently on the mouth. They soon made out again and while Ruby was kissing her as gently and openly as she could she still felt her crying. It was a tad bit depressing but she still held her hard, kissed her deeply on top of her and could feel Sapphire starting to move her body against hers again.

Ruby lifted herself up and got in position, Sapphire's leg got in-between hers. They released, Sapphire breathed into her mouth. She had seemed to stop crying.

"Are you feeling better?" Ruby asked. Her groin beat with hot blood.

"Yeah." Sapphire answered with anticipation. Ruby moved her head down and kissed her again. Began to move her torso while Sapphire's upper thigh was pressed against her warm groin. Sapphire's hands moved down her back and into her tank top. Her hands stroked her bare back hard as she started thrusting. As Sapphire's hot wet tongue moved about in her mouth she moved against her harder and harder. It was so dark, but she could feel Sapphire's chest breathing heavily, hear a whisper coming from her mouth, feel her hands stroking over her back. And it became sweater and sweater. He felt hot tingles come from her groin, lighting going up her spine from the mere intimacy. She released from the kiss, moved her head to the side and pushed her open mouth against Sapphire's cheek. Her hands moved down to her butt and helped her with the thrusts.

She moaned, with her eyes shut hard and Sapphire panted against her face. How she might have sounded didn't matter as much, as long as it made Sapphire feel better. And it did.

She didn't stop moving for a second, and as she moaned low key still she lifted herself up, she pushed the covers off them both. She was soaked, the heating oven was on, the covers had been over them both and while doing this both hers and Sapphire's bodies became hot. She had enough, so she threw it all away. Dragged off her tank top over her head with both hands and threw it against the wall. It was dark, it was too worm, she didn't care. She didn't see much, but she heard sounds of fabrics coming from Sapphire too, and when she moved down against her again she felt her naked skin against hers. Both of them still wore their bras. But their shoulders and bellies were bare. Her skin was so soft, she could feel the skins of their upper bodies meeting. Sapphire was moist in Ruby's sweat or her own, either way; it made everything even better. Images of Sapphire all sweaty and naked flew into her mind and made her really aroused.

"Ruby oh my god." Sapphire whispered excitedly. She wrapped her arms over her and stroked against her back. Ruby had almost had her little climax but had interrupted it by dressing off, so she started to thrust again. She moved her head down and kissed her neck hard as she felt her hands press against her butt cheeks again, assisting her.

She began moving harder again and started noticing how wet she was becoming in-between her vaginal lips. The beams from her groin began to come again and she could hear Sapphire moan tenderly and weakly from inside the throat she kissed. It began to happen again. Ruby shut her eyes hard, could feel a few tears coming, but they stayed inside her closed eyelids. She moved her head up to Sapphire's and kissed her hard on the mouth a few times as she held her moan in. She did it hard and her muscles tightened. Her hands wrapped themselves around Sapphire's head and Sapphire's hands moved under her loose pants and pressed against her butt cheeks with her slim fingers.

"Ah Sapphireee." She said in-between a moan, and then she moaned hard. The hardest this far today. Her body shock slightly for a few seconds, and strong hot tingly sensations came from her groin. Then she went limp and pressed her head against Sapphire's neck. Out of breath she smiled.

"Holy shit baby." Sapphire whispered.

"Hm?" Ruby said and lifted her head. Their noses met in the darkness.

"You're so sexy." Said Sapphire. Ruby felt herself blushing hard. She felt embarrassed but at the same time a bit sexy. It was a strange new feeling. Sapphire kissed her hard, made her turn around while she was still a bit out of breath. Ruby's eyes widened in the darkness. She felt Sapphire's hand press hard against her chest with her palm. She lifted her own hand and began stroking her boob as Sapphire began to kiss her sweaty neck. She could feel where the skin ended and the bra began. She was tempted to stick her hand inside, but didn't dare.

"Are you happy now Saffy?" She asked.

"Mmh, yes. Yes I am." Sapphire replied in-between two long kisses against her neck. She moved her head up as she positioned hers and Ruby's legs on the open bed. She began to move while she bent her upper body up a bit, they released. She breathed heavily into her mouth as Ruby stroked her breast carefully bat fast. Sapphire began to move harder and seemed to lean one of her hands on the fence of the bed. She moved herself a bit up and Ruby moved the leg she was moving against a bit more up as well. She gave off quick hard thrusts for a little while as she moaned very weakly. Ruby felt her groin beating again and her heart rate increasing. Her entire body became so work by what they were doing. Sapphire leaned down on her and kissed her hard as she started moving a bit slower and instead panted in her mouth. Their tongues danced in a worm haze of spit and passion. Sapphire released again, whispered:

"Baby." With a shivery breath, then she leaned even more forward and Ruby moved her legs after her. Sapphire's breasts pressed against Ruby's collar bone and she let go of one of them, moved both of her hands back against her sweaty back and pressed her face against one of her boobs. She opened her mouth and kissed and licked the tops of them that weren't covered with her bra. Pressed her hands against her lower back and felt her movements as she increased speed again. It was so very very hot. Ruby couldn't help but give off a weak moan as her groin beamed carefully with hot tingles. Spikes went up her spine and her belly was filled with butterflies. Sapphire began to moan a bit harder. So much so that if someone was home which she didn't know right now, they might hear her. Ruby moved her hands down to her butt and pressed against them as she continued to kiss her boobs hard. She panted and breathed on them with a hot long breath. Her soft hot skin was sweaty, and it felt like Sapphire covered all of her. That she melted into her. It was the most amazing feeling.

Sapphire started clinging to her head with both of her arms, her moans became a bit louder and higher in pitch for a few seconds. Her muscles began to tighten in her arms and butt, and she began to shake slightly. She moaned one loud deep moan and it sounded so good it made her own body tighten a little bit too. Her groin tingled and radiated. She just had to let off a weak moan. Then Sapphire sighed deeply and moved herself back before landing her head hard against Ruby's chest. She was out of breath and seemed to have a weak laugher lingering in her mouth.

"It's so odd something so little feels so good." She whispered in delight.

"Not when you're so incredibly hot." Ruby replied gently as she slid down a bit and hugged her tightly. Sapphire started giggling. Ruby released and faced her, started kissing her cheek as she giggled a bit more. Her face was really worm. She turned her head a bit and kissed her on the lips, had their tongues meet and massage one another. Her tongue was so hot and wet and soft, Ruby could still feel her body beating. She lifted her hand and stuck a finger into Sapphire's mouth while still making out with her. Sapphire released, began sucking her finger while Ruby kissed the very corner of her mouth with her closed lips.

"Mmmh." Sapphire said amused as she still breathed heavily through her nostrils. She licked her finger, moved it out of her mouth and kissed her on the lips hard. Their tongues met again and while they opened their mouths widely Ruby turned them around and leaned over her. Kissed her hard as she felt Sapphire wrap her arms around her neck. Ruby released after a while, moved her body down and began kissing and licking her neck hard. She slowly worked her way down in the darkness and took in the soft moist skin of her chest and boobs. She kissed with all her might, moved down below her breasts and licked down her belly. Sapphire began to pant weakly, Ruby smiled as she kissed further down and playfully licked her in her bellybutton.

"Ah Ruby!" Sapphire yelled as she jumped and started to giggle. Ruby laughed as she held her down with both hands while she said:

"Laffy Sapphy." Very tenderly. Then she continued as if nothing had happened with a smile over her mouth. Her face was so warm, her heart beat so hard she could feel it in her head. She sighed lightly with happiness as she stopped close to the beginning of her pants, then she lifted her head up a bit.

"Your body is wonderful Saffy." She whispered.

"Thank you baby, so is yours." Sapphire replied gently while lifting her hand and stroked her hair. She moved her hand down and pressed it gently against her slim lips that still had so many kisses to give. She immediately began to bathe her hand with lots of small kisses. Sapphire giggled.

"Do you want to do it again?" She asked. "Because I do." Ruby threw herself over her hard and yelled:

"Yes!" She could hear Sapphire react to her body hitting her, and it sounded for a second like the air in her lungs got beat out of her, but then she laughed really loud and yelled:

"Ooow, Rubyyy." Ruby pushed her face against hers as she giggled. She had by accident jumped herself in perfect position. Sapphire's legs were already between hers. She leaned in and kissed her hard, and began to thrust again.

* * *

They stood in the small hallway inside Ruby's house. Sapphire stared at her as she dug through endless jackets and threw them on the floor. She was almost disappearing in there, she came out and dropped a jacket on the floor, smiled to her and went in again. Sapphire blushed slightly, she was so cute. She was looking for park suits people wore outside in winter. The kind kindergarteners wore. They all had one each apparently and Sapphire had commented on how odd that was. And that she had never had one herself. Even as a small child she had been dressed up in neat jackets and pants. That had shocked Ruby quite a bit.

"I saw it here last time." Said Ruby, she turned around and put her hands on her hips. Leaned on one of her legs. She sighed, seemed to think.

"Why don't you just ask Mona?" Sapphire asked.

"Becaaause, it's supposed to be here. And I don't need help." She answered. Sapphire crossed her arms and smiled to her.

"Yes you do. You've been in here probably for fifteen minutes. You should go ask if she moved them or something." She said. Ruby frowned and crossed her arms like she meant it.

"No it's fine. I don't need no help. Let me just check again." She said and turned around in one quick swift movement and reached down for all the jackets on the floor. It looked like she was walking in a shallow sea made of fabrics. Sapphire sighed and rolled her eyes, let her arms fall and stepped forward. Ruby stood with her back bent, still looking. Sapphire stroked her back with one of her hands, it made her stop what she was doing and she straightened her back.

"Hey.. You don't need to be so stubborn. It's OK." Sapphire said softly. Ruby replied without looking at her.

"No, it's not. Let me just find.." She replied with an angry tone. She was on her way to bend down again but Sapphire walked in front of her and grabbed her shoulder, made her stand straight. She avoided eye contact.

"I see what's going on." Said Sapphire.

"No you don't." Mumbled Ruby. Sapphire lifted her hand, stroked her cheek and made her make eye contact with her.

"Yes I do. Surely you must be incompetent if you can't even find those suits, right?" She asked. Ruby looked away, gave off a deep spiteful sigh. As if she was more frustrated with herself than with Sapphire for pointing it out. For a few moments she had looked away, but then they made eye contact again. Her eyes looked firm and angry, but they softened and her brows tightened. Then she nodded carefully.

"I'm sorry, I just wasted fifteen minutes. All because I'm governed by my feelings." She said with hard words. As if they were spoken too tightly together and she tried to break them apart. Sapphire lifted her other hand, placed it on Ruby's other cheek and started to squeeze her face.

"You just have your heart on your sleeve that's all. I like that about you, you know that. But it's probably not so easy for you." Sapphire responded softly. Ruby looked down.

"No it's not." She said. Sapphire moved her face up to hers and kissed her hard on the lips for a few seconds. Then she released and looked into her dark beautiful eyes. Felt a slight blush on her cheeks.

"It's OK." She said, let go of her face and grabbed her hand.

"Come on let's ask Mona. I can ask for you if you want?" She said with a smile. Ruby smiled back and nodded.

"OK fine." She replied. Sapphire opened the door and dragged her along with her by the hand. They walked together out on the livingroom and found Hand and Mona sitting beside each other on the couch watching TV. She was reading a book through. They looked up at them as they arrived.

"Hey, we were looking for those park suits in the hallway but we can't find them Do you know where they are?" She asked and looked at Mona. She shook her head and looked at Hank.

"Yeah I moved them down in the basement 'cause that hallway is so small and we never use them anyway, they took up so much room." Hank said.

"Where did you put them?" Asked Ruby. Sapphire looked over at her and smiled. They still held hands.

"In that closet by the washing machine." Hank answered.

"OK Thanks." Ruby replied and dragged Sapphire with her to a small door close to the bathroom beside the stairs. Sapphire stared at it, hadn't noticed it before really. Ruby opened the door, it was dark and cold air came from it like an invisible cloud. Ruby looked down the stairs for a second and sighed, as if she dreaded to go down. Then she walked down first with Sapphire right behind her. The stairs were steep and it bent around. They walked down carefully only with the light from above to guide them. Then Ruby found the light switch and the basement lit up. It seemed like a collective of rooms with no doors, and walls without paint. Cold stone floors and only one small window in sight covered in snow from the outside. It made the daylight dim. Washing baskets, clothe hangers attached to the ceiling and a big white old washing machine stood in the corner of the room they had entered. Beside it was a tall brown closet made of wood. It seemed worn down. It was pretty cold down there, she began to shiver on her arms and the hairs stood up on her neck.

"How nice." She said. Ruby looked at her and smiled:

"Really?" She asked.

"No." Sapphire replied with a grin. Ruby giggled and said:

"I know, it's pretty ugly down here." She led Sapphire through the room.

"At home our washing room is beside the bathroom and it is all slick and clean and everything is neatly organized. We also have a dryer." Said Sapphire.

"You lucky bastard." Ruby commented and smiled. She giggled to her as Ruby opened the closet and found the suits hanging from clothe hangers. They were all black and blue, identical.

"Ok so mine is the smallest, but both Hank and Mona are taller than us, so you can have mine and I'll just take Mona's." Ruby said as she let go of Sapphire's hand and reached into the closet. She dragged out two of them and put them over her arm. She quickly closed the door and turned around.

"I hate the basement." She said. She started walking, and Sapphire followed suit while holding around herself. She turned off the lights since she walked out last, and walked up the stairs behind Ruby. She waked into the warmth again and closed the door behind her. But she still felt the chills on her arms. Ruby stroked her upper arm.

"You cold fish." She commented. She smiled back and nodded. Then Ruby leaned in and gave her a few quick kisses on the lips before she turned around and walked towards the hallway as she yelled:

"We found them!" Sapphire looked at her and smiled. Her face felt worm. She followed Ruby into the hallway and when she arrived Ruby was already trying to push all the jackets out of the way without cleaning up after herself.

"Ruby, you can't just.." Said Sapphire and sighed. She picked up a jacket and hung it on an empty hook. Ruby sighed.

"Fine." She said. She put down the park suits and started cleaning up too.

After they were done they got dressed and Sapphire this time had brought her hat, scarf and gloves. She just barely remembered it when she was on her way out of the house to be driven here by her dad.

They walked out of the door, Sapphire first. She ran over to the snow covered garden, made deep footprints. Ruby came out after her, ran into her and hugged her hard from behind.

"Hey Sapphire, check it out!" She yelled and stepped away from her. Her park suit was too big and she had folded up the arms and legs, but the suit's body was still too big and the under part slid down and made it look like she was sagging. She made rapper like hand movements and yelled with a touch face:

"You think you're so tough, HUH!?" Sapphire laughed and replied:

"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?"

"I am one of those stupid popular boys!" Ruby yelled out with an over exaggerated attitude. Sapphire turned around and pressed her gloved hand against her chin.

"I don't think you're my type." She stated gently with a smile.

"What!? I can't get the girl?" Ruby yelled while she smirked. She went up to Sapphire and lifted her up.

"Noo, I have to get everything I want cause I'm tough!" She yelled, Sapphire screamed and laughed.

"AAH! What are you gonna do now!?" Ruby stumbled in her saggy park suit and fell into the soft snow. Sapphire fell on her back with Ruby over her legs, they laughed. Sapphire looked down at Ruby while she leaned on her elbow in top of her and said calmly while she smiled:

"I guess I have to be gay then." Sapphire giggled, put her hand and placed her cold snowfilled glove over Ruby's face.

"You're already gay silly." She said. Underneath her glove Ruby made such a sound people make when they laugh with water in their mouth. She removed the glove, looked at her face while she shut her eyes hard. Her face was wet and some tiny snowflakes had fastened themselves to her eyelashes. She opened her eyes and looked up at her with a closed smile. The bleak daylight shone from above, made her eyes almost glow in a dark red-ish brown vibrant color. The sky reflected in her iris. She wore her purple blue knitted hat, her afro hair close to her face hugged it tightly. Her dark skin seemed to glow in the sun, and it glistened a bit from the snow that had been melted on her face. Sapphire blushed and sighed with a smile.

"You look wonderful." She said softly. Ruby tilted her head a bit, pressed her lips together in a bright smile and seemed to blush a bit.

"Aaaaaaaaaaw." She said long and hard as she moved herself on top of her and stopped only to lean in and kiss her lips. She gave her many hard little kisses before leaning back for a few seconds and looking straight at her.

"You too." She said, leaned down and gave her a tender closed kiss, worm and heart melting as always. It lasted much longer. As she had her eyes closed she heard the sounds of a glove stroking against the snow. She opened her eyes and tried to see what was going on, but the sound came from the side where she was missing an eye. Ruby held her in a steady kiss, but she could feel her smiling in it. Before she knew it she had a hand full of snow pressed gently in her face as Ruby released.

"AAHH Ruby!" Sapphire yelled. Ruby burst out laughing and got herself up on her legs. Sapphire sat up and reached after her legs, but Ruby had fast legs and tip toed out of her grip. Sapphire stood up and saw Ruby standing a few meters away from her with the biggest smile on her face. She giggled with her pearly white teeth, her wonderful facial expression became contagious. Sapphire laughed and went for it, started running after her.

"You're gonna pay for that!" She yelled. Ruby giggled and ran in circles and Sapphire desperately and somewhat out of breath tried to reach her. But then she felt a mild annoyance mixing with her overwhelming joy and upped her game. She really went for it and let her legs just do their thing, reached her in no time and jumped on top of her. Ruby tried to leap away but her saggy park suit ruined it for her once again and them both fell into the snow. Sapphire placed herself on top of her, Ruby was laying on her belly and covered her head with her arms as she laughed hard.

"You're much faster than I thought!" She yelled. Sapphire giggled, put lots of snow over her head and yelled back:

"Surprise!" She put even more snow on her but made sure to miss the neck. She had bad memories of being attacked in the snow and knew how awful that felt. Ruby laughed hard.

"Sapphire noooo!" She yelled. She tried to turn around while Sapphire sat on top of her, it proved to be hard and looked absolutely ridiculous. It was as if she tried to have her upper body twist all the way around but couldn't. Sapphire looked down at her and laughed. She bent her head back, it made it so that Ruby got a chance to move free as her body bent a bit back too, and made more room to move.

"Oh my god Ruby!" Sapphire yelled out as Ruby got loose, pushed then both down on the other side and made Sapphire lie on her back again. This time with Ruby right on top of her. She looked down at her and laughed, seemed to enjoy watching her. Her belly hurt from all the laughing, she tried to stop.

"Ooow." She said and laughed more. Ruby moved her arms down in the snow above her head, stared her down with a broad smile on her face. She was about to speak, Sapphire interrupted her.

"Wat'cha gonna call me now huh punk!?" She yelled out. Ruby's eyes grew wide for a second. She moved her face right up to hers, and said slowly:

"Laughy Saffy."

"That's right!" Sapphire replied, grabbed hold of her shoulders and made them roll around while she repeatedly kissed her face. Ruby began to laugh. Sapphire stopped and looked at her. They were both lying on their sides. She had moved her leg over Ruby's hip.

"Maybe I should call you Laughy Ruby from now on." She said.

"Noo, that doesn't sound as good." Ruby replied with a smile.

"Yeah you're right." She said back, sighed lightly as she stared into her beautiful worm eyes.

"This is nice." Said Ruby. Sapphire nodded.

"Yes, it is. You're so much fun." She said. She looked up at the sky, made herself lean back and lay right on her back again. Ruby lied down beside her in the same position. With her legs stretched out and back against the snow and face up towards the sky. The sun was bright, the sky was blue. She grabbed Sapphire's hand.

"I think the last time I played like this with anyone was when I was about ten." She said.

"That's a long time." Ruby commented.

"Yeah. It was with my friends. Marie and Ida and Rebecca. But then they turned on me. So we didn't play much after that." She added.

"Poor Saffy." Ruby said, held her gloved hand a bit tighter.

"What about you? When did you last play like this?" She asked gently. The sky was so blue and bright, and big. She smiled to herself.

"I don't think I ever did, to be honest. But I don't remember anyway." Ruby answered. Sapphire sat herself up fast and turned her upper body towards her, looked down at her.

"You never did?" She asked fast.

"I don't think so. I have never really had friends." She replied with a monotonous tone, but a tad bit sad face. She looked away.

"You don't remember things from your childhood?" Sapphire asked. Ruby shrugged, sighed, and said:

"I guess I remember some things, but I try not to." She made eye contact with Sapphire again. The blue sky reflected in them, and even though everything about her was so beautiful in the light of day. Her gaze was so sad, it was hard to admire her beauty.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting." Sapphire said.

"It's OK Saffy, you can ask me anything you want. I'll answer." Ruby responded with a hint of a smile over her mouth.

"Really?" Sapphire asked, just to make sure. Ruby nodded.

"Yeah." She answered. Sapphire sat there for a minute deep in thought while she looked down at her. This was supposed to be a fun time, but this made her sad already. Crap, she thought. She had ruined the mood. There's no going back now.

"Do you.. Have a first memory?" She asked. She stared at Ruby's face as she looked up at the sky and seemed to think really hard.

"Hmmm." She said. Then her face slowly changed from being neutral to a sad facial expression.

"Yeah but it's not a very nice one. Do you want to hear it?" She asked. Sapphire nodded. Ruby sighed deeply, as if she dreaded just talking about it. Sapphire felt kinda bad about it already.

"I was probably around 6 or 7.. I umm.. I remember being in my room, alone, in the dark and then lots of noise came from the livingroom so I went to check. My mom and this man I had never seen before were fighting, or well, rather, he was fighting her. She used to take home men I guess. And then he started… To.. Uh, rape her. And for some reason I watched it for a little while, trying to understand what he was doing. I knew whatever it was she didn't want to, and she screamed." Ruby said. Sapphire lifted her hand up to her mouth, covered her chin jaw and mouth with it. She looked down at Ruby in shock as she told the story.

"I closed the door and hid under the covers in my bed. I remember covering my ears with my hands and crying. Later that night mom awoke me in my sleep and beat the living crap out of me. She used to do that when stuff upset her." She continued. Sapphire sat there completely still. Her butt began to feel really cold. They had never really talked about exactly what Ruby had gone through as a child. But she had never thought it was that bad. How is it even possible? She thought. She removed her hand from her face and laced it on Ruby's chest. She lifted one of her hands and placed it over hers in turn.

"Told ya it wasn't nice." She said.

"I'm so sorry I asked. I keep ruining the mood." Said Sapphire and lowered her head.

"No Saffy, you're not ruining it. I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't want to." Ruby responded with a serious look.

"Why do you want to if just thinking about it makes you so sad?" Sapphire asked. She lifted her other hand and placed it over Ruby's on her chest. Ruby looked up at the sky again, smiled a bit even.

"I donno." She responded. "There's just something about you that makes me feel.. Safe. Like I can share anything and it will only be received with care and support." She looked over at Sapphire and smiled. Sapphire felt the blush come in her cheeks.

"That's right baby, you can." She answered. Ruby giggled a bit, closed her eyes. Sapphire took the opportunity to remove her hands, move Ruby's out of the way and climb on top of her. She leaned down close to her face and stared at her. Ruby looked back at her with a relieved gaze.

"I'm on your side no matter what." She continued. Ruby smiled with her teeth.

"I know." She responded. Sapphire leaned in and pressed her lips against hers. Their kiss was still closed when she felt Ruby's big strong arms cover the very top of her back. Her almost white hair hung over on both sides of her face and almost the entire bottom half of it was in the snow. Her heart rate increased and she felt her body growing warmer. Her face had started turning really hot. Their mouths opened, their tongues met and found their rhythm. Sapphire smiled in the kiss as her eyes were still closed. It tingled in her stomach, she sighed hard with her nose. I want you to always be happy, she thought. As if Ruby could catch her thoughts, could read them with her mind. I want to make sure you are always happy and safe and sound when with me. She kissed her deeper, felt herself almost tear up from the sheer words she had heard from Ruby just moments before. She released, looked her in the eyes. They had opened.

"Are you OK?" She asked. Sapphire nodded.

"Yeah, are you?" Ruby nodded too, she sniffed. Her nose was a bit red. It was after all cold outside. She wasn't sad. She seemed relieved.

"I wish you had never experienced such horrible things." Sapphire whispered while her lips tickled against Ruby's. She placed her gloved hands on Ruby's shoulders and stroked them with her thumbs in sync.

"Me too." Ruby replied a bit louder. They kissed again, this time with closed slow kisses. They released, Ruby smiled.

"Do you want to build a snowman?" She asked. Sapphire grinned back at her, nodded and said:

"Yeah." She lifted herself out of her grip and got on her two feet as Ruby did the same. They immediately began to make a snowball and roll them through the snow. Sapphire knew she hadn't done this in years either. It was indeed very nice.

* * *

Sapphire was walking through the halls with lump in her throat. As always she was anxious, but kept it under control. She walked with two school books in her hands, pressed them against her chest as she stared down at her feet. They walked in a fast pace. People were among her, sitting against the walls, walking out of classrooms, walking beside her.

She made a turn from the others, walked around a wall and into the big blue and red locker room. She came to the toilets, and walked into the one with a picture of a girl with a skirt. She was alone in there, she smiled. Put down her books carefully on the floor and stared at herself in the mirror. She wore a dark blue blouse and white pants. She had braided a small tiny braid close to her ear on the right side herself, and it looked quite nice. She put her hands on the sink, leaned forward and stared into her own eye. The other as always was covered with her bangs. She wore a slightly darker and a tad bit browner lip stick shade today. She felt classy this morning perhaps? Or maybe she wanted to try out new things, make herself pretty? For Ruby? For herself?

Outside was a haze, a mess, a place to fear. In here in the toilets, it was silent. And for the moment safe. She smiled to herself in the mirror, found herself to look pretty good today. She knew Ruby would think so. She pressed her hand against her chest. Through about the marks she had gotten on the very top of her boobs after what they had done on Friday. Nobody had seen it yet, during P.E she had changed against the wall. Lucky for her she always wore blouses anyway. She had showed it to Ruby in distress and she had laughed her ass off. Sapphire found herself to blush slightly while standing alone in the bathroom. Just thinking about her made her so happy. Ruby was so wonderful.

The door opened behind her, fear struck her as she jumped. It was that girl with half long blond hair and green eyes who was also a lesbian. Sapphire never caught her name. It seemed to just be her who walked in here.

"Hi." She said.

"Hello." The girl locked the door from the inside.

"Why are you doing that?" Sapphire asked.

"Well I don't want anyone to hear me pee." She replied.

"Oh" Said Sapphire. The girl walked over her books without stepping on them.

"Can you turn on the tabs and have them stay on until I flush?" She asked.

"Sure." Sapphire responded. The girl walked into one of the stalls, Sapphire turned on one of the tabs. She looked down at her books as the water ran. Her books had been covered in white paper designed to shield the school books if they got spilled on. The books were free but if something happened to them they had to be paid for, and It cost a lot each book apparently. So people tended to cover them up, just in case. Hers had scribbled "Sapphire" all over them. And flowers.

The girl flushed, Sapphire stopped the tab and the girl walked out of the stall.

"Thanks." She said. She wore a way too big black doctor who T-shirt and tight green leopard printed tights, black socks. No shoes or sandals or anything. Her hair stuck out everywhere.

"I umm, I didn't catch your name?" Asked Sapphire. The girl had her hands under the tab and had just turned it on when Sapphire asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I guess I thought you knew since I knew your name. It's Peridot." She said as she washed her hands without soap. She turned the tab off, found some paper and spoke further.

"An odd name I know, my parents loves gems." Sapphire smiled.

"Yeah I got a gem name too, and Ruby as well when I think about it. I guess it's not so uncommon." She said.

"I guess not." Peridot said and grinned. She then looked down and grabbed herself by the hand.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Sure." Sapphire responded.

"How.. How do you get a girl to like you?" She asked again. Sapphire held her laugh in her smile.

"You like someone don't you?" She asked.

"Well duh." Said Peridot.

"Who is it?" She asked once more. Peridot looked away, a faint blush grew in her cheeks.

"She doesn't go here. I've just seen her around the bus stop in town, I haven't even spoken to her. But she's so cool." Peridot answered with a bright smile.

"What does she look like?" Sapphire asked.

"Heeey, wait no I asked you for advice." Peridot replied.

"Oh come on how many other lesbians can to talk to about this stuff?" Sapphire asked and grinned, she knew she was right. Peridot pressed her hand against her chin, rubbed it.

"Hm, excellent point. OK!" She said, let her hand fall down to her hips and turned around, started walking back and forth in a too meter range.

"Her name is Amethyst, she has long purple hair and she is short and chubby and kinda loud and she always hangs out with this lesbian couple. One of them is tiny and slim like me and the other is gigantic and tall. Big curly hair." She said.

"Oh yeah, I've seen those two around Marius music school. They must be taking music classes. But not that girl you like." Said Sapphire.

"So you haven't talked to one of them or anything?" Asked Peridot.

"No, sorry, I don't know them. But you want to approach that girl, right?" Sapphire asked apologetically.

"Well yeah, but I can't just walk up to her and be like: Hi, I like girls, you're cute, can I have your number?" Peridot yelled out in frustrations. Sapphire crossed her arms.

"That's not a bad idea actually." She said. Peridot crossed her arms too and looked at her hard.

"Oh really?" She responded. "Is that what you did?"

"No way, I'm way too shy for that. I didn't dare to talk to her for almost half a year." Sapphire said and let her arms fall to her sides, she looked away. It was almost silly how much of a coward she had been.

"Really? YOU didn't dare? But how did you two even.." Responded Peridot, she looked confused.

"We happened to be at the same bus stop and she asked me which school I went to 'cause I looked familiar."

"And how long ago is that?" Peridot asked. Sapphire squinted for a bit as she tried to think.

"Umm, three and a half weeks ago I think." She replied. Peridot grabbed a hold of her own hair and growled.

"How do you even do that? How do people get together, how do they flirt?" She asked and looked at her. She just had to giggle.

"Don't ask me, Ruby is the flirt." She said. Peridot let go of her hair, seemed more relaxed.

"Really? I thought you were." She said.

"I'm all tense and shy and nervous. Then she flirts left and right and makes me giggle like a dork. She's really smooth." Sapphire responded. She held around herself and looked down at her feet, blushed a tad bit.

"What's it like? .. Having a girlfriend?" Peridot asked carefully. Sapphire looked up at her, squinted as she turned her head a bit to the side as she smiled. She was silent.

"You don't need to go in detail or anything, it's just. I've always wondered what it would be like to have that." Peridot added. Sapphire sighed deeply, let her arms fall and looked away.

"Fine, I got things on you and now you'll get things on me too." She said.

"Fair enough." Said Peridot and smiled while crossing her arms. Sapphire sighed again, smiled.

"It's like a dream. It's terrifying, intense and wonderful." She said softly.

"Terrifying? Why?" Peridot asked.

"I'm scared I'll do something wrong. I mean, we both are. I think that's pretty normal." Sapphire replied.

"She? Scared? But she's so touch and honestly kinda scary herself." Peridot commented with an apologetic smile.

"Scary you say? Why is that?" Sapphire asked. A small ball of worry arose from her belly.

"I mean, have you seen her when she's mad?" Replied Peridot. Sapphire shock her head gently. Peridot continued:

"She just snaps and throws herself into people she knows will beat her up tenfold. It's like she doesn't give a fuck about herself at all, and just goes for it 'cause she's so mad. Like she thought she was gonna get killed or something. After, she would always be so sad, doesn't matter if she won or not. " Peridot said while she looked down. Sapphire had pressed three of her fingers gently against her bottom lip, she had stared intensely at the sink. Ruby's words the other day about her mother, and how she got beat up in the middle of the night came to mind. It all made sense, and was so very tragic and sad. She turned her gaze back to Peridot. They made eye contact.

"Are you OK?" She asked. Sapphire sighed, turned to the mirror and looked at herself, said:

"Yeah it's just.. Hearing about how she has been in pain just makes me really sad for her."

"Sorry, I just answered your question." Peridot stated nervously.

"It's OK." Sapphire responded. She looked over at Peridot again and smiled.

"Tell you what? I'll talk to Ruby and maybe we'll come up with a way you can approach this girl without being too forward." She said.

"Really? Thanks!" Peridot responded.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. " She said and bent down to pick up her books. She lifted her books up, pressed them against her chest with one arm. Unlocked the door and opened it with the other. She looked at Peridot.

"See you around." She said.

"Yeah." Peridot replied. Then Sapphire closed the door, walked on, and sighed with relief.

* * *

Ruby sat in one of the empty hallways at school. She would have preferred to sit in the classroom but sitting there all alone reminded her of how lonely she really was. She had her cellphone in her hand. She looked down at it. Her knees were bent, and her back was against the wall. It was recess, people had been eating, and now walked around the school joking around. They didn't have to go out if it was winter. Students walked past she small patch of hallway she sat alone in, nobody looked at her.

She started texting Sapphire.

"I miss you." She wrote, and sent it. Pressed the phone against her forehead and closed her eyes, sighed hard. If Sapphire had gone here, which would be a total disaster. They could walk around hand in hand, sneak off during recess and kiss. She would counterbalance each and every mean word with: No, it's not true, you're beautiful. She smiled to herself, looked up. One can dream, she thought. Her phone vibrated for half a second. Ruby looked down.

"I miss you too baby. You OK?" It said, she stared at the word "baby" and smiled. I'm all hers, aren't I? She asked herself and blushed. No matter how lonely she was at school she at least could meet up with her girlfriend later and get the comfort she needed. That was more than she had ever hoped for. She hadn't hoped at all, in fact. She was ugly, she would be forever alone, nobody would ever love her, that was it. Telling Sapphire she wasn't mean to pretty girls that one time was a shot in the dark, and it had worked.

"I'm fine, I just want to be with you." She texted back.

"Well well well." She heard. She looked up. It was Fredrik and one of his stupid pals. Ruby got up on her feet, she put the phone in her pocket and closed her fists.

"What do you want lumberjack?" She asked aggressively.

"Don't you have any friends, awe." He said ironically while pretending to be sad. "Can't say I am surprised, of course nobody would want to be seen with an ugly poopy dyke like you."

"Poopy, how old are you? Five?" Ruby replied while crossing her arms.

"No, I'm 16." He replied. "But you're sooo ugly you know that!" Ruby rolled her eyes, this was beginning to get old.

"What the fuck is your problem Fredrik? Why do you hate me?" She asked. She shot her arms from her body and to the air. She felt her phone vibrate from her pocket.

"What the fuck did I ever do to you? Why can't you just not be a fucking dickhead all the time?"

"Becaaause, you're a disgusting little bullyke who doesn't know how to wash your ugly skin properly!" He shouted back at her, he began to get really angry. Seemed to not like her questions.

"How the fuck can you live with yourself saying that to another person!?" She yelled back.

"You call him bad shit all the time!" His friend whom she knew was named Steffen replied. She had beat him up many times. He was a wimp, really.

"Yeah but like, I'm just being aggressive as a responds, if you didn't approach me like you did now I wouldn't say that. And I'm not saying as bad shit as you. What if I kill myself huh? What then? Will you go for the rest of your life knowing you basically killed me?" She yelled back and looked at Fredrik. His eyes grew serious.

"Just looking at your ugly face makes me angry! And you won't kill yourself!" He replied a bit less aggressively.

"You don't know that! And why do I make you angry!? Have you ever thought about that you stupid little shit!?"

"I'm NOT answering you, you stupid ugly dyke!" He yelled out with a red face, he grabbed Steffen by the arm and yelled back at her:

"This isn't over. Imma beat your ugly ass later!"

"I would like to see you try you white trash." She shouted back as she saw them leave. When they were out of sight she sighed. Wow, she thought. I talked my way out of a beating. She smiled to herself. It's about time.

She found her phone and looked at Sapphire's text.

"Me too. Can't wait to see you soon." She wrote, and ended it with a heart. Ruby smiled widely and felt the blush coming back in her cheeks. She was such a sharp contrast to what she had just experienced. And she was so wonderful!

"How's your day going?" She wrote and sent it. She sat down again and leaned against the wall. This time with her legs stretched out. Her phone buzzed.

"It's alright. A bit anxious as always but I'm fine." She read.

"Good." She wrote, and a heart. She pressed the phone against her heart and sighed. It's going to be a long 3,5 hours.

* * *

Sapphire sat in her classroom. It was recess, just a small break in-between classes. Artur was sitting beside her, he was talking about ESO again and she sort of paid attention. Sort if didn't. She didn't know anything about it, and it had begun to become a little bit boring. Sort of like when people talked about their dreams for a really long time. Apart from when Ruby did it of course, not that she had talked much about her dreams. She just always imagined that if she got bored with whatever she was saying she wouldn't get bored from looking at her beautiful face. She looked to the side for a second, wondered if Ruby had strange dreams. She says such strange things sometimes. Yesterday she pointed out that pupils in irises looked like black holes really close up, and that maybe she could suck Ruby in with her eyes and live the rest of her existence in total darkness. Then she had added; that she wouldn't have minded that too much as long as it was Sapphire's eyes she got sucked into. She's so weird, but in a good and interesting way.

"Sapphire?" Artur asked. She awoke from her daydreaming.

"Oh sorry, I'm just really tired." She replied. She didn't lie. She was at Ruby's all day long, almost every day. She had to do her homework in the early night. But it often passed midnight because she liked having good grades. She was tired. But Ruby was so worth it.

"It's OK. You're having trouble falling asleep?" He asked further.

"Yeahh." She replied. She felt a hand press against the hooks that held her bra together, and that it snapped. After, she heard Andreas shout:

"Brasnap!" She moved her upper body forward and placed both of her hands on her boobs, holding the bra in place. She gaped in shock.

"Andreas! What the hell!" Artur shouted. She turned her head and saw Camilla and the girls look at her. They laughed when they saw her reaction. She turned towards Artur.

"Put it on, now, put it on!" She shouted. She felt fear arise from the cores of her skeleton and a faint sob pressed against her eyes. Artur stood up in a hurry and put his hands under the back of her white shirt. He found the straps and put them in place. His fingers were small and cold, the fact that he was touching her skin made her really uncomfortable. That everyone was staring at her and laughed at her made her want to burst out in tears. She began to find it difficult to breathe calmly. If she lost her bra everyone would see her boobs, Andreas would want to look at them. He fetishized her. Her head was exploding. Artur pulled his hands out of her shirt, touched her shoulder.

"Are you OK?" He asked gently. She stood up fast.

"No." She whispered. She walked out of the classroom while feeling their gazes following her. She came into the hallway with the blue and green door. Students sat in the stairs right by it, the stairs went up. Her hands were shaking, she walked off fast, felt restless. Like insects were climbing within her and wanted out. Sapphire ran down the stairs, pressed her hand against her pocket. She had her phone, she sighed with relief. Students had stacked themselves up against the walls like aunts in a hive. They stared at her as she walked, pierced through her skull. Tears started coming. She jogged to the door of the room she spent most of her panic attacks in, it was locked. She put her hands up and pulled at her hair. She began to run towards the bathroom, the one she and Peridot had talked in. She had been there many times before and had panic attacks. Her hands held at each other for dear life. She started hyperventilating. She opened the door to the bathroom, 2 8th grade girls stood in there and seemed to just be looking themselves in the mirror. Fear struck her like ten bullets in her chest.

"Out!" She yelled.

"What?" Said one of the girls. Sapphire walked in, leaned against the sink and shouted as tears began to run down her face.

"OUT NOW!" She yelled with a lump in her throat. The girls hurried out with big eyes. When they did she shut the door hard and locked it, then she bent over the sink again. Held at the end of it as she bent her knees all the way down while still standing. She hyperventilated and cried.

"Oh my god." She whispered. "Whyyyy.?" She added. She started sobbing and felt herself choking in her breath. She let go of the sink and bent her head under it. Pressed both of her hands against her ears and tried to be as quiet as she could. She closed her eyes hard, waited this pain out. Her chest was burning, her fear spiked. Waves of it ran up her spine and twisted at her belly, made her head beat with cold blood.

"Aaahh!" She growled, then she sobbed again. Made sure to catch her short breaths. She sat down on her butt, felt herself calming down after just a few minutes. This was a short one, she felt relieved. She dried her eyes, began to breath slower breaths. They changed into exhausted tired breaths. It was a small heating oven in the bathroom that radiated heat at her side, she moved against it. Pressed her back against it while she pulled her phone out of her pocked with restless shaky hands. She found Ruby's number right away.

"I need you right now, text me when I can call you." She texted, then she pressed the phone against her nose and cried quiet tears. Why do people do things like that? She sobbed gently, because she was so tired. Why did she have to live like this? It's not fair. Her phone started playing a tune, it was Ruby who called. She moved her finger over the screen, pressed the green phone button on it. She pressed the phone against her ear, her hands were still shaking.

"Hello." She said, her voice was shacking too. She sniffed.

"Saffy? Are you OK? What is happening?" Ruby said in the phone, she sounded really worried. Sapphire smiled a bit. It was nice knowing she cared. At least someone did.

"Andreas snapped open my bra over my blouse in class. I ran off, and had a panic attack just now."

"What!? Are you fucking kidding me!?" Ruby shouted. "I'm gonna fucking beat his sorry ass!" She sounded furious. Sapphire sighed, but smiled.

"No baby, I'm gonna talk to a teacher soon. He's been pestering me nonstop, my teacher will handle this." She said gently. Sniffed again. Her head was so heavy.

"I don't give a shit! He's not gonna get away with that!" Ruby shouted, seemed mad still.

"Can you please calm down?" She asked with a lump in her throat.

"I'm sorry Saffy." Ruby replied calmly after giving off a big loud sigh. "I just care a lot about you and I want you to be safe and happy." Sapphire smiled, felt the blood come back to her face.

"I know. I'd be all of that if you were here." She replied tenderly.

"I can cut class if you want, and come see you?" Ruby suggested. Sapphire sighed loudly.

"No." She said. "As much as I want you to, you need to stay. You got so much potential, and you shouldn't waste that just because I got a panic attack. They happen quite often." She answered.

"You think I have potential?" Ruby asked, she sounded surprised, but joyful.

"Yes, of course I do." Sapphire responded.

"OK I'll say. But I'm gonna be right outside that big door when your school day is done! Even if I have to go a few minutes early!"

"Fine." Said Sapphire. She sighed again.

"I don't want to go out there and meet them again." She added.

"You can do it Saffy, you have done it many times before. You're strong." Ruby said, Sapphire put her head in her hands.

"Go on." She said.

"And if you go out there and get through the day you'll meet me straight after. Then I'll kiss you and hug you and keep you safe." Ruby said softly. The very thought of that kind of relief made her tear up again.

"I miss you." She said with a lump in her throat. Her voice cracked a bit.

"And I miss you. Now get your pretty butt out there and face your fears, talk to Artur or Peridot or whatever, make the hours fly by. And I'll meet you when it's over." Sapphire nodded as she cried silently, She stood up slowly as Ruby spoke.

"Yes, OK. I'm gonna do it." She whispered while drying off her tears with her hand. She looked at herself in the mirror.

"Wait, you think my butt is pretty?" She asked.

"YES, it's really pretty! Pretty Saffy buuutt!" Ruby shouted jokingly in the other end. Sapphire sniffed, then she giggled.

"God you're silly." She stated.

"You love it." Ruby said joyfully.

"Yes I do." She said and smiled to herself in the mirror. It didn't show anymore that she had cried. She sighed deeply, turned around and looked at the door.

"OK, now I'm doing it. I'll talk to you later." She said.

"Yes, good luck! See you in a few hours! YOU can do this! BYE!" Ruby responded with a force one could only describe as a mixture between joyful but stern. She put the phone away from her ear, and placed into the pocket of her pants. They were light blue. She sighed deeply again, unlocked the door slowly and walked out. She came out to the big locker room, walked through it fast and entered the long yellow hallway. It was empty. Class had started for everyone. She smiled. I can do this, she thought. For Ruby.

* * *

Sapphire had opened her locker with her keys. Switched out her shoes and put on her jacket, scarf, hat and gloves. Her body was aching for physical contact from Ruby. She felt so restless, so ready to meet her. Students were all around her, doing the exact same thing as she did. Nobody paid attention to her. It was a relief.

Sapphire closed her locker hard, put the keys in her backpack before putting it on. She stepped in-between long and short backs of boys and girls. Some of them were turned towards each other, she walked straight forward. In a different line than them. She came out to the big open space with the big electric heating oven those teens often stand against. The big glass doors could be seen, just a few steps down on the other side of this big open space. The sun was shining with bleak white rays. Students moved past her as she walked, ran down the steps together and pushed against the doors as they laughed and chatted.

She walked over the big room slowly, as students crowded around her. She walked down the stairs as they could see every move she made. She held her breath as she opened the doors, hoped with all her might that Ruby was there.

She walked down the stairs as students did around her, Ruby sat by the benches which were placed against the empty wall they have hid behind. She was talking to two boys from Peridot's class, they seemed angry with her. Ruby didn't look her way. Were they going to hurt her?

"Ruby?" She said. Both she and the two other boys turned her way.

"Sapphire." Ruby said right away and stood up. She grabbed her backpack and threw it over her shoulder before finally approaching her with open arms. The boys stared at them as Ruby embraced her hard. Sapphire smiled and finally felt somewhat safe, even among this chaos. She pressed her cheek against her afro hair and scarf. Sighed deeply.

"Are you OK?" Ruby whispered.

"I am now." Sapphire replied back just as low key. They released, Ruby put up her naked hand. It was pretty cold outside, but it seemed that Ruby's hand stayed worm no matter what. She stroked her cheek and smiled to her. Behind her she heard students walking, chatting. Some surely must be looking at them, the two boys behind Ruby sure did. And they didn't look happy.

The bleak light blue sky reflected in Ruby's beautiful dark eyes, Sapphire blushed weakly. She leaned in and had them kiss softly for a few seconds. Finally she was safe, even if she wasn't, that's how it felt. They released and Ruby smiled to her again. The boys behind her looked shocked.

"No way!" One of them shouted. Ruby looked back at them, looked over at her again and smiled a bit wider. She seemed amused by their reaction, Sapphire was too.

"Come on, let's go." She said. Sapphire nodded.

"Yeah." She said. Ruby grabbed her hand, took off her glove and twinned her worm fingers into Sapphire's, put them in her jacket pocket. She wore the bobble jacket. She put Sapphire's glove in her other pocket. Her hand was so nice and worm, and big. She blushed a bit more, looked over at the students who passed them by. Some stared at them with wide eyes, others didn't even look. She sighed, it wasn't as scary with Ruby here, for once. It was nice.

* * *

Ruby had her boxing gloves on, and she hit like crazy. Today Fredrik had approached her again and this time he had back up. He had said she was an ugly nigger fetus who would die alone. It had made her so mad she had jumped on his face and beat him twice, and then a teacher had come in. Because they weren't in fact outside, but rather inside the school. And teachers tended to walked around in there. She still thought about it. Ugly nigger fetus, what the fuck!? She thought, and beat really fast and hard on the punching bag. She had even cried a bit over it to Sapphire, because nigger hit a soft spot with her. Her mom was from Africa after all, people there had been colonized and enslaved. They had been called that, there and in the states. Why did she had to hear it here too? Sapphire had stroked her back, kissed her face and told her about human evolution. And how the default human was black. She had gushed on about how humans evolved brains and fought for their lives, and formed language and culture in a skin just like hers. That they created music, spread across the world, learned to write and built society in a skin like that. It had made her feel so much better. She was so wonderful. So what she had been called didn't upset her as much anymore, but rather just made her angry. Like most things in the world.

She hit so hard she could feel it in her hands. Remembered what the trainer had said about her joints. Keep them straight. Sweat made her arms blank. She breathed heavily, hit as her face curled up with rage. She was getting it all out. Her bullies, her mom, racism. Fucking MOM! She hit as hard as she could, made a few last big punches before she finally stopped. She sat down on her knees and breathed. She closed her eyes and dried her sweat off her forehead with her forearm, which was just as sweaty. She had been punching for quite a while, started to feel that her session was soon to be over. And after, she would meet Sapphire at the bus stop. She smiled in her exhaustion and stood up. Made herself ready to pounce again.

"Hey!" Someone shouted behind her. Ruby turned around, still ready to hit. It was that girl who also went here, the only other girl in fact.

"Heey, wow wow, easy." The girl said with her hands up. Ruby put hers down.

"It's Ruby, right?" She asked. She had long light purple hair, kinda messy. She was a tad bit taller than Ruby, but much bigger. She had tanned skin just like Sapphire, dark eyes and big round lips, but a small mouth in itself. She covered one of her eyes with a thin bangs, it seemed to be a stylistic choice, like with emos.

"Umm, yeah. And you are?" She asked, she was still a bit out of breath.

"I'm Amethyst, hello!" She said with a smile and offered her hand to shake. Ruby lifted her hand a bit and looked at it, she still had her boxing gloves on.

"Umm." She said while being a bit lost.

"Naah, don't worry." Said Amethyst. "I just came over here to ask if you wanted to spar with me next time. Next Thursday?" She asked.

"Uhm, yeah sure. We can do that. But, why do you want to spar with me?" Ruby asked, she attempted to dry off the sweat on her forehead again. She wore a black tank top. Amethyst did too.

"You are the only other person in here who aren't one meter taller than me for starters. Plus, you seem like a good challenge." She replied.

"Oh, OK." Ruby said.

"What.. ? You haven't had anyone ask to spar with you before? Am I gonna take your sparginity?" Amethyst asked jokingly and smiled. Ruby giggled. This was rare.

"Yeeah, I guess so. Please be gentle with me." She said and laughed. Amethyst caught the joke right away and laughed out loud, really loud. She lifted her hand and hit Ruby on her shoulder with her palm.

"Don't worry Ruby, I will! See you next week!" She shouted and walked away. Ruby stood there with her hands heavy from the boxing gloves. What the hell just happened? She thought. She had met another young person who wasn't a dick? Sapphire is gonna love this.

She walked out the doors to the gym. The cold wind blew in her face. She had once again leaned her thinner bright red winter jacket over her shoulder. And her bag over her other shoulder. It was ice cold outside but she was so warm and sweaty right now it felt quite refreshing. She opened her arms to the cold dry air, to that special sounds the air made when snow covered the ground. To the soft sound of her black winter boots treading in the snow.

"Ah." She said. It was so good in fact, she smiled. She jogged to the crossing of the street, saw Sapphire sit on the bus stop as expected. She wore a skirt today. It had been a while since she had worn that. Ruby smiled to herself as she blushed. It reminded her of the first time they met. She was bare armed, Sapphire was sitting there, but now everything is different, she thought. So much has changed for the better, she made her so happy. Ruby ran across the road after a car had passed. Sapphire stood up and smiled to her, Ruby opened her arms and jumped in her hard.

"Heeey!" She yelled out with joy.

"Hey baby, I've missed you." Sapphire stated softly. They hadn't seen each other all day, since Sapphire always had to go straight home after school on the days she had singing lessons.

"I've missed you too." She said, they released. Ruby looked down at her skirt.

"Why are you wearing a skirt? I thought you wanted to rebel against your mom?" She asked. Sapphire looked down.

"I do, but she yelled at me last night. Said she didn't like how tight my pants were, and that it looked like I wanted attention." She looked up again, that had clearly upset her. Ruby lifted both of her hands, placed them on her cheeks.

"You look really cute in a skirt too." She said. Sapphire smiled.

"Thank you." She responded. Ruby leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. Then they hugged. Sapphire pressed her mouth against the very top of her neck. Brought with her a few hairs that tickled.

"Sorry that I'm all sweaty. I had a lot of anger to get out after yesterday." She said in their embrace. Her heart rate had increased a little bit.

"It's OK. I don't mind." Sapphire replied. Ruby felt her lips gently kiss the side of her neck. She started to giggle as her face heated up.

"Hey Sapphire, wanna know what happened today?" She asked.

"What?" Sapphire mumbled. She leaned back and looked at her. Ruby couldn't help but smile widely. Sapphire was so pretty.

"A girl who also boxes asked me if we could spar. I said yes, and I found it to be odd 'cause like, people being nice is still kinda new to me. And then she said she would take my sparginity." She said enthusiastically and started giggling.

"She was really cool, and had long purple hair." She added. Sapphire tiled her head.

"Purple hair? What's her name?" She asked.

"Amethyst, what about it?" Ruby asked in return. Sapphire's eye grew wide, and she started to smile.

"Oh my god that's perfect!" She shouted.

"What? Why?" Ruby asked all confused.

"You know that girl Peridot is into? That's her! She said her name was Amethyst and that she was chubby and had purple hair."

"That's her!" Ruby shouted and started laughing. "Oh this is gonna be soo much fun!" She added. She started jumping on the spot, Sapphire held at her arms and smiled broadly at her as she jumped. She stopped, embraced Sapphire again and said:

"I'm so happy to help your friend!"

"I'm so happy that you're happy." Sapphire responded much calmer. Ruby softened her grip, leaned back and made eye contact with her. Even in this weak light she could see a faint blush on her cheeks. Her eye looked at her with great passion. Her smile was strong. Ruby grinned, her body heated up. Her face did too.

"You're so cute when you're so happy and excited." Sapphire said softly. Ruby leaned in, whispered:

"So are you." She looked down at her lips. Their soft tender lips met in the cold air. It damped from their noses, she sighed deeply. Moved her lips hard over hers. Their mouths were closed, she walked forward. Sat down on the bench inside the bus stop side by side. Kissed again. Ruby lifted her hand up, held her jaw while she opened her mouth and snuck her tongue in. She had missed her so much today. Among all that crap and chaos that was her school. She had walked around in her home, turning things over, walked back and forth. Tried to watch something. It all seemed to meaningless without Sapphire there with her. So she kissed her hard, felt Sapphire's gloved hand lay gently on her tight. Stroked her carefully Ruby moved her hair out of the way like she always did. She tilted her head, had their tongues dance in their rhythm. These weird meaty muscles made for eating and talking, so sensitive and delightful. She blushed hard, found herself to finally get used to this. And not in utter surprise and shock that she had a girlfriend. She really had one, and having her around was all she ever wanted.

* * *

Ruby held around Sapphire in her bed. They were watching Inside out, but Ruby wasn't really paying attention. She had Sapphire's naked shoulder pressed up against her face. She lifted her arm, removed all the long light hairs away from her neck ever so gently. She pressed her nose and lips gently against her soft worm skin and breathed deeply in through her nostrils. The room was dark, the light from the screen changed colors. She closed her eyes, felt her cheeks getting heated up as she put her arm down and slipped it down over Sapphire's belly. She wore a tank top under the covers, had taken off her blouse as always. As she stroked her, she felt Sapphire move herself a bit back, closer to her. As if they weren't close enough. Ruby pressed at her skinny little belly, put her lips gently against her neck and kissed it tenderly a few times.

Sapphire paused the movie but let the screen stay up, she turned around. Ruby lifted her arm a bit, and when she had turned around Ruby rested her arm over her hip instead. They made eye contact, the light from the screen behind her made the back of her hairs look almost white with a tint of blue. It was something blue on the screen. They both lay on their sides, up in each other's faces. Both of her blue eyes showed. Her bangs were behind her ear. There was no telling which one was fake, Ruby blushed and smiled. She leaned in, kissed her softly on her full lips. Butterflies emerged in her stomach. She felt Sapphire's hand press gently against the side of her neck, before gently moving up and down her collar bone and breast. It made her bones heat up from within. She sighed deeply in the kiss, rubbed their lips together a bit harder. They had the covers over themselves, but the room was already hot. Ruby made an effort to remove the covers, felt Sapphire giggle silently in her grip. Sapphire leaned over her and kissed her hard. Ruby's arms moved behind her back and under her tank top. She started stroking the soft skin on her lower back. They opened their mouths and made out, her tongue was so worm and wet. Ruby felt her groin tingle and pulsate. One of Sapphire's arms was over her shoulder, the other still stroked against her boob.

Ruby smiled to herself, the other day came to mind. She had worn a dark blue blouse and white tight pants, a cute braid in her hair, she was so beautiful. When she tried to help her with her math homework; it had been impossible not to flirt with her, stroke her and kiss her. She couldn't help herself, and apparently neither could Sapphire. They had gone to bed, Ruby had dressed her upper body down to her bra and kissed her where ever her skin showed for a long time, before they did the thing after turning off the lights. If they were alone it seemed, they couldn't do anything productive. She started giggling to herself while still kissing her. Sapphire released.

"What?" She asked.

"We can't even watch a movie together without getting it on. We're crazy." Ruby replied. Sapphire giggled in return, said:

"I know." She leaned in again and kissed her hard a few more rounds before she leaned back sat up on top of her and dragged off her tank top over her arms. The light from the computer screen lit her beautiful body up, she smiled shyly. Ruby lifted her arm, stroked her gently and slowly down her body from her collarbone to her navel. She grinned and she blushed hard, pressed her index finger into Sapphire's belly button and shouted:

"Got'cha!" Sapphire immediately started to laugh really hard and Ruby jumped over her and tickled one side of her ribs. She looked at Sapphire's face as she bent her head backwards and laughed with a wide open mouth. Her white straight teeth showed, her throat moved slightly. Her laughter sounded so wonderful, it made Ruby so warm and happy she just had to giggle along with her.

"You always do that!" Sapphire yelled out.

"Yup!" Ruby shouted back, she leaned down and kissed her hard on her chest above her breasts. She made exaggerated kissing noises. It made Sapphire giggle a bit longer.

"You're so beautiful Saffy!" She stated enthusiastically. Sapphire's arms covered her head in a strong hug.

"Thank you baby. I want to see your body too." She said. Ruby stopped kissing her. The weak light coming from the screen was behind her, some of it shone on Sapphire's face. They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. Sapphire got a regretful facial expression.

"I mean, you don't have to." She added carefully.

"Nono, I do want to. It's just.. I'm scared you won't like what you see." Ruby replied. She looked down, became a bit upset with herself. It must be such a turn off that she disliked herself so much. She had read that confidence was the most attractive thing about a person, and she had none of it.

Both of Sapphire's arms were removed from around her head, and her hands were instead placed on her cheeks. They pressed hard against her face.

"Of course I will. Ruby, baby, listen. You're SO beautiful and stunning and it doesn't matter what you think you look like. I'll like it, no, I'll love it. No matter what." Sapphire stated with a serious look and a stern face. When she was done she smiled gently.

"You're so sexy baby." She whispered shyly. Ruby blushed really hard while her eyes grew wide.

"I still find it so surprising how attractive you find me Saffy." She said, leaned in and kissed her hard with her closed mouth. When she released she sat up, sighed deeply and said while shutting her eyes hard:

"I'll do it." She stepped off Sapphire crawled over to the end of the bed and turned on a bed light on the night stand. The light was yellow and bright; she closed the computer, turned around and looked at Sapphire. She felt nervous. Sapphire sat still with her stockings on, they went from her toes to below her navel. They were light gray, and thick. She had worn a skirt today, and taken it off in the bed in the dark. It was the first time Ruby had seen her with just stockings, and with only a bra on. Her beautiful hips stuck out on her sides, shaped her like an hourglass even when sitting. Her boobs were big but not too big, round, perfect. Her long wavy light blond hair covered her shoulders completely. She sat on her butt and had her arms spread a bit, with her palms against the sheets. Her bangs covered her prostatic eye, but her other working eye stared right at her. Her lips were redder than normal, her cheeks had a tint of pink over them. She was so beautiful, Ruby just had to smile, and felt her entire face grow really worm. She sighed deeply, the breath in her chest was warm and heavy.

She placed herself in front of her in the bed. Sapphire's legs were stretched out in front of her, Ruby sat on top of them. Tried to give more weight to her legs, which were bent. She sat on her knees, far enough from her that she would see everything. Close enough to be reached.

She sighed again. All those people who had told her she was fucking disgusting, or showed it. Her bullies; old and new, who would spit her in her face and say:

"You're the ugliest girl I have ever seen. Why are you wasting space? Go kill yourself." Her mother: "Stupid little child, can't believe such an ugly little creature came out of me. I shouldn't have kept you." Disgusting, ugly, forever alone, unloved, unwanted. Her entire skin felt like barbed wire, burning, telling her it was time to rip it off like a selike's skin. Ruby closed her eyes. Pulled the tank top off herself just like Sapphire had done, over her shoulders and head with both arms. She let go of the tank top, it fell down on the sheets. She still had her eyes closed. It was completely silent, she waited for it.

"I was wrong." She would say any moment now. "You're not beautiful. What did I ever see in you? I lied, because I'm lonely. I never liked you. I never want to be seen with anyone as ugly as you." The words shouted in her head. Made the black mud stuck in her head come out of her ears, and run down the sides of her neck under her skin. She felt a faint pressure against her eyes and nose. She knew she was about to cry, but held it in.

She opened her eyes. Sapphire sat as she was sitting before. Her gaze was relaxed, her cheeks were a bit pinker than before, and she smiled. She stared her down, then up, then down again. Ruby could hear her breath from here, going through her nostrils. It was growing strong. She lifted one of her arms, and had her fingers gently touch her shoulder. It ran down her left arm gently, over her biceps. Then her hand moved up to her neck, down her collar bone and against her sports bra which pressed her boobs to her chest. It went down to her belly which probably looked a bit bigger now that she was sitting. She looked down at it as if to make sure it didn't look that bad. It stuck out, she frowned and looked up. Sapphire looked at her body while she bit her lower lip.

"You're so unbelievably beautiful Ruby." She whispered with delight. Ruby sighed deeply with relief. She smiled gently and lifted Sapphire's hand from her belly up to her face. Pressed it against her cheek while the tears pushed themselves back.

"Thank you." She replied and pressed the hand against her mouth. Kissed it four times.

"Come here baby." Said Sapphire and moved her hand down to her shoulder and attempted to push her towards herself. Her other arm welcomed her to an embrace. Ruby smiled broadly, nodded. She moved herself as close to her as she could and hugged her tightly. Sapphire's face pressed against her neck, she started kissing it. Ruby pressed her face against her neck too, closed her eyes and smiled.

Sapphire moved her around and laid her on her back against the bed. She stroked her cheek and looked down at her. Her hair fell over around her head, like a waterfall surrendered them. She smiled lovingly at her, leaned in and kissed her hard on the lips. As they opened their mouths and let their tongues dance, Sapphire moved herself over her. And grinded gently against her. Ruby pressed her hands against Sapphire's naked back, stroked it hard. Sapphire released.

"Can I kiss your beautiful body?" She asked, whispered so close to her mouth her lips tickled against hers. Ruby smiled, nodded as she inhaled. It felt like her lungs were made if tiny hot dots, and they spread when she breathed. Sapphire moved down to her neck and licked it, kissed it with her open mouth slowly and gently.

"You don't need to be so careful." Ruby whispered. Sapphire seemed to have listened carefully, 'cause the second Ruby was done speaking she started kissing much harder. She had been like that before, but then they wore clothes, their boundaries were clear and it was in complete darkness. It felt different now. And it made her ecstatic.

Sapphire kissed her hard on the neck, sucked a bit on it. And it hurt a little bit, but she smiled. Her groin beat like an African drum. For a second it felt like she was biting, she moaned, a little bit with pleasure, a little bit with pain. Sapphire moved her way down, made a trail of small kisses down her collar bone and turned to her arm. Ruby looked down at her head as she kissed it. She likes my arms? She thought and smiled. She lifted her arm a bit up, Sapphire moved back and looked at it as she flexed it for her. Sapphire bit her lower lip, looked up at Ruby.

"You like that Saffy?" She whispered. Sapphire nodded as she blushed. Then she moved down to her body again and pressed her face against her upper chest.

"Mmmm." She said as a laugh lingered in her mouth. Was she embarrassed? She thought. Cute.

Ruby moved her arms over her head and pressed gently at it while she started kissing her chest, and sports bra. As she moved down Ruby removed her arms again, and rather placed both of her hands carefully on the back of Sapphire's head. Worm lightning went up her spine, butterflies filled in her stomach. Her body was so hot, but she wasn't sweating for once. Since the cover were off. Her groin tingled and beat still. Sapphire kissed over her nipples under the bra, they were stiff. Ruby stuck her tongue out of her mouth and panted as silently as she could. She quickly took it in again as she was reminded that Sapphire actually could see her. She looked up, smiled. And when Ruby stuck her tongue in again she giggled for a few moments.

Sapphire moved down to her belly, her fat ugly soft belly. This is where Ruby had stopped her, because she hated it. But everything felt safer this time, and she was too turned on to care. Sapphire kissed her belly, and all its tiny folds. She knew she wasn't fat, only slightly chubby. But she felt like a beast. She looked down at Sapphire's head moving about down there as she felt soft and hard kisses on her skin. Around her belly button, against her ribs, down close to the beginning of her pants. Her tongue moving up in the middle as if she had a happy trail there, and all the way up to her sports bra. The sensation of the tip of her tongue traveling up her skin made her quiver, and she moaned gently. Sapphire looked up, smiled again and seemed to blush hard.

"You're so hot." She whispered. Ruby grinned down at her.

"You too Saffy." She said. Sapphire moved up, kissed her hard on the mouth. Their tongues mingled, her hot wet muscle moving inside her mouth made her bones ache. She wanted her, right now.

Ruby sat herself up fast, interrupted everything. She moved her hand towards the bed table and turned off the lights. Then she turned around and found her in the dark, pressed herself against her body and kissed her neck hard. They arranged their legs in the darkness, Ruby moved herself up. She started moving against Sapphire's leg. Their faces were close, but didn't touch. Sapphire breathed heavily into her mouth.

"I want there to be a way for us to feel good at the same time." She said so softly Ruby would have believed it was a song. She grinned and sighed.

"I don't think scissoring is a real thing. It makes no sense." Sapphire added. Ruby still moved up against her, bit her own bottom lip hard.

"Yeah, clit against clit, I don't see how that's gonna work." Ruby replied, when she was done she giggled a bit. Quite the conversation they were having right now of all times.

"How about.." Sapphire said carefully. She lifted her leg up and placed her heal on Ruby's lower back. Ruby couldn't help but move one of her hands against her tight and stroke it all the way down to her knee.

".. Hand against clit?" She added. "Would you be comfortable doing that to me?.. While you do the thing that we do?" Ruby opened her mouth to answer after a few seconds of silence. But it was pitch black and Sapphire probably didn't see that, 'cause she added fast:

"You can stop whenever you want and I won't get upset or anything. You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Ruby smiled. Leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. When she released she said:

"Calm down Saffy. I'll do it, as long as I don't have to let you do it to me after. Because _that_ I'm not ready for."

"I would never do that to you baby. I care so much about you." Sapphire responded.

"I know Saffy." Ruby replied. Sapphire removed her heal from her lower back and let both legs spread out. Ruby put her hands on her groin outside the stockings; she had stopped moving and felt herself getting nervous. What if she was bad at it?

"Can you tell me what to do?" She asked, felt a bit embarrassed that she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She wanted to be the kind to know, she did after all have a vagina herself.

"Of course. Don't worry if you feel you do something wrong. This will be wonderful no matter what, because it's you." Said Sapphire. She spoke so softly it was a joy to listen to. It sounded like she cared, a lot. She had never heard anyone speak to her that way before, it gave her shivers.

"O-OK." She replied.

* * *

Sapphire lay with her legs spread a part, and Ruby's hand against her groin. It was beating, hot weak tingly sensations came from it even now. She smiled in the darkness. Her body was so worm and her heart beat hard in her chest. The mere thought of what was about to be done to her made her quiver on the inside. She stretched out her legs, Ruby removed her hand. Sapphire pulled down her stockings and panties, but let them rest over her ankles. She didn't want Ruby to see her just yet, and wanted to pull it all up when she was done. She spread her legs again, felt Ruby place her hand on her groin once more. It was naked, she felt exposed. Luckily for her she had showered last night, after coming home and being alone again. She had shaved off everything like she usually did, like all the other girls she went in class with and changed in front of before P.E did. She felt that hairs were dirty on her.

Ruby kissed her cheek gently, as she started rubbing with two of her fingers way too far up.

"A bit down." Sapphire whispered. Ruby moved her fingers down and rubbed gently still. It wasn't far enough.

"A bit more." She said again. Ruby moved her fingers further down, she went too far. Her fingers slipped between her vaginal lips and just missed it. She was really wet already. She sighed.

"Up, a bit up." She whispered. She felt herself getting a tad bit frustrated, she was so turned on.

"Sorry." Ruby whispered in her ear.

"Don't be." Sapphire replied, she smiled. Ruby's fingers moved a bit up again, hit her clitoris in a soft bang. She gasped for air.

"Ah right there." She whispered and closed her eyes. It beamed from her groin, far more than it had ever done when they had done the thing.

"Yessss." Ruby whispered fast, as if she had seen someone score a goal. Sapphire giggled. Ruby rubbed a bit harder, and a bit faster. Her fingers moves fast up and down, Sapphire was so wet she imagined how it would feel for Ruby. Maybe like sticking her fingers in jello? Ruby's lips pressed themselves against hers, she slipped her tongue in.

"How am I doing?" She mumbled in the kiss.

"You're doing great." Sapphire whispered with a shaky breath. Her worm naked groin sprinkled itself with pleasure, she moaned a slow long low key moan. Her mouth was open and pressed against Ruby's. She had begun to breathe heavily too. In that moment, she felt Ruby started moving herself up against Sapphire's left leg. She lay more on the side, leaning over her. Sapphire moved her arms down, and placed her hands up on her lower back. Pressed against her hard with her fingertips.

Ruby switched up, begun making circles around the clitoris. It must have been swollen enough to be felt by now. The sensations were even batter, she moaned again.

Ruby moved against her leg a little bit harder and faster. Her hand stayed consistent.

"I love this Saffy." Ruby whispered.

"Me too baby." Sapphire replied. They kissed hard. She moaned again in her mouth, their tongues so hot and heavy didn't stop moving. Ruby's hand began to move a bit faster, along with her own body movements. Sapphire began moving her torso a bit herself, but not enough to disturb that wonderful touch. Her entire body was so worm, her groin it seemed was floating in lava. It beamed delightful hot tingly rivers covering her groin, torso and underbelly. She moaned again, long and slow. In the very end it grew a bit high pitched. Their lips released, Ruby gave off a moan strong enough to make her shiver with delight. Her heart beat fast and hard in her chest, Ruby moved her hand a bit faster. The sensations became more intense. Her fingertips pressed against Ruby's bare back. She pushed her head back, shut her eyes hard. She opened her mouth wide. All the muscles in her body tightened, especially her tights and stomach. Her legs and belly began to shake slightly. Hard delightful cramps of pleasure filled her being, and beams of hot water traveled up her spine. She blushed hard as she said:

"That's so good!" A bit too loud. Then she moaned hard. As hard as she had ever done in front of anyone. Ruby moaned too, a loud one, right in her mouth. Her body was so tight and the pleasure so big she pressed the tips of her fingers over Ruby's back. Her fingernails pressed in, Ruby moaned. They kissed, moaned again over one another. They released, it began to pass. She moaned low key again for a hand full of seconds before she totally relaxed her body and Ruby stopped moving. They were both out of breath. But she couldn't help but kiss her again, even when tired. They opened their mouths right away, Sapphire massaged her tongue with hers. Tilted her head, opened her mouth wide. Kissed her hard.

"Mmmh!" She said. She was so happy this had happened, and that it had gone so well. Of course it did, she thought. Ruby was so amazing, and sexy, and beautiful, and considerate. Happiness filled the space her orgasm had devoured. She blushed really hard, smiled in their kiss. Ruby released, giggled in her face.

"So you like to scratch, huh?" She asked playfully. Sapphire groaned, felt embarrassed. Ruby giggled again.

"Oh my god." She said. "Yes, apparently I do... Did you like it?" She asked. She heard Ruby keep a silent laugh in her breath. It was pitch black. The blinds were down and the curtains covered the only window in the room, but it was also evening.

"Yes." She said. "But do you have any idea how embarrassing it's gonna be during showers after P.E tomorrow?" She asked further. Sapphire broke out laughing, imagined the scenario. Poor Ruby, she thought.

"I'll walk around NAKED with scratch marks on my back and bite marks on my neck, oh it's gonna be so much fun!" Ruby added. Sapphire laughed a bit louder.

"I'm sorryyy!" She yelled out while laughing. Ruby began kissing her chest and placed her face in her cleavage. Sapphire pulled her hand down and dragged at her panties. She put them on as Ruby moved out of the way, but she pushed the stockings off. When she was done Ruby moved on top of her again and placed her face against her boobs. Sapphire moved her arms all the way around her head, and locked both of her legs around her butt and lower back. Ruby relaxed in her grip. She sighed deeply.

"You're amazing." She said.

"You too." Sapphire replied. Then she looked up at the ceiling in the dark, and smiled from ear to ear. Her face was still worm; she still had butterflies in her stomach. I can't believe we did that, she thought. But it sure was amazing.

And it wasn't like porn at all.


	9. Chapter 9 Telling

Boltsofaccseptance . tumblr . com

* * *

Trigger warning. Rape, emotional abuse, sexual harrasment. Adult content: Sex

* * *

Ruby was running around inside the gymnasium during P.E. They were all playing soccer with a somewhat soft tiny red ball, it had been fun. But she had attempted to give one of the guys at her team a high five after he scored a goal, he had rejected it. So now she was just running around doing only the things she had to, trying to cope with this loneliness.

Torvald, the muscly and bald P.E teacher stood on the sidelines with his whistle, and blew on it every time someone scored a goal. Then two out of the four teens would switch, and the team had won got to pass a game. The four teems stood on each of their corners, with the long benches going over the corners as goals. Ruby liked this game a lot, but I wasn't fun when she was disliked so much. She found Torvald to stare at her as she walked around alone while she watched the game. They made eye contact. His chest and shoulders moves slightly, he appeared to sigh deeply. Then a goal was scored from their team and he blew the whistle, they all moved inside their goal in the corner, behind the turned bench. Ruby stood cramped up with them all, she leaned against the wall. She crossed her arms and looked around herself, made eye contact with one of the girls beside her. She looked away, spoke to one of the other girls beside her again and said:

"Ew, she's looking at me." The both of them looked back at Ruby, the girl she had spoken to opened her mouth and spoke.

"Keep your eyes to yourself dyke." She said.

"I didn't DO anything." Ruby said while she tried to be calm.

"Yes you did, you looked at us." Said the first girl.

"You seriously think I want YOU?" Ruby responded with a cocky giggle.

"Well duh, you want all girls." One of them replied.

"No I don't, that makes no sense. Do you want all the boys you have ever looked at? No I don't think so. It is the same with me." Ruby responded angrily.

"You're gross." The first girl said again, she seemed angry now.

"Well you're stupid." Ruby replied a bit angrier than her. She seemed insulted.

"You're ugly. So ugly nobody will ever like you!" She yelled out.

"So are you!" Ruby yelled back. She closed her fists.

"Nobody wants you here and you know it! Go die in a ditch you fucking bulldyke!" The girl yelled. Ruby was about to yell some really rude words back but Torvald moved his arms between them and yelled:

"That's enough girls!" With his tad bit feminine dark voice. He pointed at the girls.

"You both get a mark on your behavior!" He yelled. They rolled their eyes at him. Then he pointed at Ruby:

"And you are excused." He continued. Ruby walked off behind him right away while she mumbled some light curse words. She walked straight into the girl's wardrobe and sat down close to where she had put her bag and other clothes. She put her head in her hands and sighed. Go die in a ditch, she had said. It ringed in her ears over and over. Sometimes she just wanted to do exactly that, it had come less and less lately. She dreaded the thought of showering with them. Nobody had seemed to notice the tiny dark mark on the very bottom of her neck. But they sure would notice her scratch marks. They weren't too bad, she had looked herself in the mirror this morning. But they were visible. She got a sinking feeling in her gut. They were going to comment on it. What will they call her then? Sadistic? Last night was so worth it though.

The door in the wardrobe opened, and Torvald came in. He closed the door hard behind him and walked up in front of her. He stood with his legs spread and his arms in a cross. He looked angry for a second, then his face softened and he let his arms fall to his sides.

"Listen Ruby." He said with a gentle tone. "I know it's hard being out among teenagers, and that you must feel pretty alone right now. But you're not, and it gets better, I promise." He continued. Ruby stared at him with big eyes. A teacher that didn't hate her guts?

"Soo.. You're gay?" She asked. Torvald nodded and smiled, sat down beside her.

"Yeah." He said and sighed. "And I had a pretty hard time in school because of it."

"What about now?" Ruby asked and looked over at him.

"Now it's just fine. Most grown-ups are pretty nice about it." He replied.

"Do you have husband and kids?" Ruby asked further and smiled. He nodded and grinned.

"Yeah, I do. I've got one happy family. Don't listen to those out there who says you will never be loved, you will." He said. Ruby grinned broadly.

"I've got a girlfriend. So I know they're wrong." He patted her on the shoulder.

"That's great! Is she in your school?" He asked while he put his hand down. Ruby looked down, pressed her palms against the edges of the bench they sat on.

"No, she goes here, at Garden City School." Ruby replied.

"Oh, well, I work mostly with students from this school. You GC2 students are so few. So I might know who she is?" He said and leaned back.

"Yeah, um, her name is Sapphire Ingerbriksen. She has big wavy almost white blond hair and tan skin. She always covers one of her blue eyes with her bangs." Said Ruby, she felt herself getting a bit nervous. She had never spoken to another gay person before that wasn't Sapphire. A successful adult none the less. Torvald seemed to think for a few seconds before his face lit up.

"Oh yeah. I remember her. She's a quick runner, but awfully quiet." He said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, she's really shy." Ruby responded. He elbowed her carefully in the arm.

"Pretty girl though." He said. Ruby smiled and felt herself blush a bit. She looked down.

"Yeah." She said. He stood up, rested his hands on his hips.

"I'll keep a look out for her from now on. And you can tell her if she needs anything, especially during P.E, she can talk to me." He said with passion. Ruby looked up at him and smiled.

"I will." She said.

"That accounts for you too." He added. "If you need anything just ask." Ruby looked down, her shoulders tightened.

"There's actually something I have wanted to ask about for a while.." She said.

"And what is that?" Torvald asked.

"I wondered if I there is a possibility for me to shower and change alone? The girls here are pretty mean." She asked nervously. What she implied was so degrading. Being mocked in the showers, nothing was more embarrassing than that.

"Yeah sure, there's this tiny shower made to be used by the gym teacher, but I very rarely use it as I mostly stand on the sidelines. You can use that. It's placed in-between this wardrobe and the boy's." He replied. Ruby stood up.

"Yes, thank you that's perfect!" She yelled out with a bright smile. She grabbed her clothes and put her bag over her shoulder. They walked out to the hallway and he unlocked the door with his keys. She went inside and stood in a light yellow small bathroom with no toilet. A mirror and sink, shower at the very end. She put her things down, turned towards him.

"Do you think it's OK if I just go spinning or something for the rest of class?" She asked.

"Sure." He answered and looked at her as she walked out of the room. Ruby then walked off through the hallway towards the stage room while Torvald walked into the main hall again. She smiled from ear to ear. Finally, a teacher on her side.

* * *

Ruby walked out of the room with her bag over her shoulder. She had showered in there, and it had been so relieving. Nobody had stared at her, teased her, nor had they seen her scratch marks. So she smiled and started walking across the small halls. Passed the main hall where she caught a glimpse of Torvald sitting on the bench and writing in a notebook, and a big door being half open. That was often done to give the students enough air while they worked out. It had been opened while she was spinning. She walked past the main hall, past the girl's wardrobe and into a room with a small set of stairs going up and another going down. She walked up, passed the door into the stage room and turned towards the door going to the outside. There were two of them, with glass windows. She walked forward and stepped out into the cold bleak day.

Sapphire was sitting on one of the benches pressed against the empty wall. Five tenth grade boys stood in front of her. Two of them leaned against the wall over her. Ruby's eyes widened as she looked at Sapphire staring down and making herself small and insignificant.

"So do you really.." Did one of the boys say, before he and Sapphire looked up at Ruby. She got up right away with a monotone facial expression, Ruby sure knew what that meant. And then she walked over to her and hugged her hard without a word. Ruby looked at the guy that had been talking. They had been in conflict before, as she had with so many boys over the years. But she didn't remember his nor any of the other boy's names. The two boys who leaned against the wall straightened themselves up.

"You have got to be kidding me." One of them said disappointed.

"Sapphire, what's going on?" Ruby whispered in her ear.

"They asked me lots of weird things 'cause they know what I am." She replied with a weak shaky voice. Ruby grabbed hold of her back and pressed at her hard.

"I thought you had gotten with a hot girl." One of the boys said. Ruby stared at them with disgust.

"This ruins everything." Another said. She began to get really angry. It bubbled within her.

"You idiots make me wanna throw up!" Ruby yelled. "You creeps!"

"We're not creeps! You are!" One of them shouted. "Taking straight girls just like that!"

"Yeah! She's obviously not really a lesbian!" Another yelled. They started to become angry for no reason what so ever. Ruby opened the door behind her and still with Sapphire in a tight embrace they walked inside and locked the door. Two of the boys started banging on it. Ruby loosened her grip on her, faced her right In front of the door.

"Are you alright Saffy? What happened?" Ruby asked. Sapphire nodded while she frowned, her shoulders were up right.

"I'm fine. They asked me about me being a lesbian, if I was with someone, and about sex. They also complimented me a lot, in a bad way, and said I was too pretty to be a lesbian." She replied more calmly than before.

"Why didn't you just go inside this building at least?" Ruby asked. She lifted her hands and held Sapphire's head gently. She didn't wear a hat today. But she did wear a long dark blue skirt and her normal bright blue coat.

"I don't know what horrible people I'm gonna meet in here." She replied. Ruby sighed deeply, a bit frustrated. They looked over at the door, the boys had stopped banging and had turned their backs to the door. They gathered and appeared to speak to each other. Sapphire sighed with relief. They turned towards each other again, she smiled a careful and relaxed smile. Ruby looked down at her lips for a second, then up at her eye again.

Last night they had fallen asleep in each other's arms again and slept for a few hours. It had been so nice. But had once again been interrupted by her mother, she had called and wanted her out on their driveway. She had gotten dressed in front of her, kissed her good bye and left. Just thinking about what they had done made her blush. Sapphire leaned in on her, kissed her softly on the lips. It only lasted for a few seconds but made her heart beat slightly faster. And her blush to grow a tad bit heavier. They released, smiled, and Ruby grabbed her by the hand.

"Come." She said.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Sapphire asked.

"No, but I'll protect you." Ruby stated softly. Sapphire looked at her with her one eye, it stared back at her. She seemed pleased and let Ruby drag her along. They walked hand in hand down the small staircase, and into the long hallway.

"Where are we going?" She asked. Ruby looked back at her, saw her smiling. She must be having a good day today since she was happy again already. Or maybe it was all because of Ruby? The thought wormed her up from the inside.

"Into the main hall. I'm gonna ask Torvald to help us." She replied.

"Oh." The moment that came out of her lips, a door opened to her side. It was those two girls that had been so rude to her during P.E. They stood in the girl's wardrobe door. When they saw them their eyes widened, and they opened the door completely. The girls looked down at their hands in shock.

"What the hell?" Asked one of them. She was on her way out, had her bag over her shoulder and wet hair. So was the other one. More girls came behind her. Marlene's face appeared along with two of her other blond haired friends. Sapphire's eye widened and she moved closer to Ruby, still holding her hand.

"Who is THAT? And why is she holding your dirty hand?" The girl who had first seen them asked.

"They're girlfriends, gross I know." Marlene replied behind her. Ruby sighed deeply.

"But she's so pretty." One of the other girls responded and looked at Sapphire. Then she looked at Ruby and continued:

"And she's so ugly." Ruby's eyebrows tightened. Couldn't they get a break even for a moment?

"Shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch." She said with a tight angry voice. Sapphire looked at her with a big eye for a moment.

"See? She's crazy and disgusting. How can you even be with that?" The first girl asked aggressively. She too had blond hair, most of them did. Ruby looked down, felt herself sinking again.

"How can I not?" She heard Sapphire say gently. She looked up at her in surprise. "I think she's beautiful." She continued with a tender smile. The girls' eyes became wide. Ruby smiled to them, hot raw happiness grew within her. Then Sapphire took the lead and dragged her gently into the main hall which was very close by. When they entered Torvald was still was writing on his notebook, the sat on the other side of the room. He looked up when Ruby let go of her bag and let it fall on the floor. She pushed Sapphire hard to herself and yelled:

"Oh my goooood Sapphire!" Ecstatically. Sapphire hugged her back and didn't seem to notice Torvald. Ruby stated jumping while still holding her tightly. Began to spin them slowly to the side.

"I'll never grow tired of that. NEEVVEEER!" She yelled. Sapphire put her hands on her shoulders and made her stop jumping. When she did, Sapphire grinned and said calmly:

"I will never grow tired of that reaction." Before leaning in and giving her a small peck on the lips. Ruby smiled to her and blushed hard. Saw Torvald behind her standing up, smiling at them and walking towards them.

"Hey you two, what's going on?" Sapphire turned towards him. She immediately turned into her other shy self, lowered her head and looked down. They had let go of one another, but Ruby grabbed her hand.

"Hey Torvald! Listen, there's these boys who were kinda harassing Sapphire just outside the door up there. And I was wondering of you could chase them off if they're still there? They were a bit aggressive." Ruby asked loudly with a serious face. She still had a faint smile lingering in the corners of her mouth. Torvald became visibly angry.

"I'll take care of it right away, you just wait here." He said with a firm tone. Then he rushed out the door they came in through. They were left alone in the silence of this big empty hall. Ruby took off her red bubble jacket while Sapphire looked at her and smiled. It seemed that she knew something was coming. And she was right. They stared at each other with smiles filled with anticipation. Then Ruby grinned and yelled:

"Awe, come here!" She lifted Sapphire up under her knees and behind her back. Sapphire grabbed a strong grip over her shoulders as she started to giggle. Ruby started running into the vast empty space. Stopped in the middle of it and started spinning. She could see Sapphire's beautiful light hair flow in the spin. She looked at her face, pressed her as close to her as she could. They giggled up in each other's faces. Ruby's face grew really worm. Sapphire both laughed and screamed at the same time, probably found this a tad bit scary. So Ruby slowed down a bit, felt herself growing dizzy. She stumbled but didn't fall, Sapphire held onto her hard as she giggled much weaker.

"Ruby!" She yelled, as if to tell her she had to be careful. She cared so much. Ruby loosened her grip and Sapphire put her feet on the floor again. She still had her arms around Ruby's shoulders. She was slightly out of breath. They stared at one another. Ruby's hands pressed at her hips. Sapphire smiled, a weak blush was seen on her cheeks. She leaned in slowly, pressed her chest against hers. Their lips met gently, Ruby's chest and stomach blossomed with hot butterflies. It was as if what they had done last night had made them even closer somehow. Sapphire kissed her playfully with a weak giggle, Ruby grinned. They turned their bodies slightly while their lips kissed hard again and again. Ruby giggled in the sea of kisses, began to step forward, making Sapphire slowly stumble backwards. She began to giggle hard still with their lips pressed together, released and smiled at her inches from her face. They moved a bit faster a few meters forward before Sapphire pressed their lips together once more. They stood closer to the other big open door on the side of the hall. Cold dry air came from it. But Ruby stood far enough away from it for them to not get too cold.

Their mouths, lips and slippery tongues found their rhythm all by themselves while Sapphire's hands moved to the back of her head. Massaged gently with her tiny slim fingers against her scalp. Sapphire released for a second.

"I missed you so much last night." She whispered softly.

"Me too." Ruby said a bit louder. They kissed again. Ruby stroked hard against her back. It was still covered with her beautiful blue coat. Ruby's entire body had grown really worm and hot lines of static went up her spine. Torvald could come any minute. Sapphire released, spoke with a shy smile. Her face was bright pink.

"I want you to do it to me again, later." She said so softly, Ruby couldn't help but let off a weak giggle.

"Mhm." She said and nodded. Sapphire smiled back to her, moved her hands forward to her hot cheeks and pressed her face hard together. Then she moved her head closer and kissed her hard on the lips. Her kiss was closed, yet still very passionate. Any second now he would come in and see them. And Sapphire especially she knew, would get embarrassed.

They released. Ruby placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Are you cold? Do you want me to.." Said Ruby, but she stopped herself, had looked over at the open door. Sapphire froze in her grip. In the big white square that was the door opening, an upper body and head stuck out. It was one of the boys from outside, but not one of those who spoke. He looked at them with wide eyes, his mouth was closed. He jumped because he was caught.

"I'm sorry, I saw nothing." He said, and then he ran off. It sounded like he was stepping in deep snow. Sapphire leaned her head against Ruby's shoulder, she growled. Ruby began to giggle nervously.

"So that was fun." She said.

"Yeah." Sapphire replied.

"OK so I noted all of their names and they're getting marks on their behavior, also I did yell at them. You're welcome." Shouted Torvald while he entered the door coming from the hallway.

"Good, thanks." Ruby replied while Sapphire still pressed her head against her shoulder.

"Is she OK?" He asked. Ruby looked down at her.

"Yeah, she's just shy." She replied. They parted, Ruby grabbed her hand again. They walked over to her jacket and bag and Ruby dressed herself in silence while Sapphire watched. Sapphire took her hand again when she was finished. They both looked over at Torvald who looked at them and smiled.

"Thank you." Said Sapphire despite her shyness.

"You're welcome." He replied. They exited the main hall and ended up in the long thin hallway again. They knew they were alone there now. When they arrived to the room with the stairs, Ruby blurred out:

"He's gay ya know."

"I knew it." Sapphire responded. Then she added: "Wait, did he tell you that?"

"Yup! He was all, it gets better and you're not alone. And you'll be loved one day just you wait. And I was like: I know. I've got a girlfriend. So then he asked who you were so he knowwws."

"Oh." Sapphire replied and smiled. They walked up the stairs. Ruby continued:

"He has a husband and kids, and he said he'd look out for the both of us and if we needed anything we could ask. " They reached the top of the stairs.

"How nice." Sapphire responded. They opened the door, walked into the cold.

"Yeah I know! It caught me completely off guard. I'm not used to teachers not hating me." Ruby stated. They stood by the benches, Sapphire looked at her with a sad gaze.

"Awe, Ruby." She said.

"Nah, it's OK. I get why they hate me, I can be difficult to deal with. But I'm working on becoming a better student." Ruby stated with a sigh. Then she leaned in and added:

"It's all because of you, ya know?" Sapphire's smile grew broad.

"It is?" She asked.

"Yes. If you can face your biggest fears every day the least I can do is to try. And besides, you said I had potential. So I'm gonna really try, why do you think I asked you to help me with math? I hate math." She said and giggled a bit in the end of her sentence. Then she looked away and blushed.

"I have never really wanted that before. But I think you make me want to be a better person. Silly, I know." She continued. Then she looked back at Sapphire who stared at her and smiled with her teeth. The beautiful girl had roses in her cheeks.

"Oh Ruby." She said. The tone of her voice sounded like a mixture of being proud, and being moved. She leaned in on her, pulled at her hand. Made them kiss hard on their lips. Ruby smiled and closed her eyes, kissed her back. Her body heated up again, even amongst this cool air. Sapphire released and said with a bright smile:

"If I have plans with you after school and really bad anxiety; you get me through the day. I also would never have spoken a single word to anyone, or sit by those girls that one day you surprised me, if you weren't so impulsive and expressive. I want to be more like that." She stated passionately. The second she was done, Ruby kissed her again. She lifted her hand and grabbed Sapphire's head. She had never thought she could inspire anyone, and she had mentioned what she would account as her most basic personality traits. She had inspired her just by being herself? And she was proud to be seen with her? Openly expressed how she felt about her to Ruby's classmates? Happiness was all she felt, and her eyes began to become a bit too wet in her closed eyelids. Their kiss was closed, but it was hard, and passionate. Their soft lips dragged over each other in the cold. This was so intense, and lovely. In moments like this she really did think Sapphire made her crazy. Pure happiness was something she had never really felt, and that mixed with a hard intense crush was new and unknown and overwhelming. She got lost in the kiss, her entire face tightened.

They released, she opened her eyes and tears ran down from both of them. Sapphire giggled silently, moved her hands on her face and dried off her tears.

"Baby-hy." She said. Ruby giggled a bit.

"I can't help it." She said and smiled. It faded when she remembered she had to go right now.

"I gotta go." She said softly. Sapphire frowned, leaned in and gave her a few soft closed kisses. When they released they still held onto each other's heads. Ruby on both sides of her head, Sapphire on her cheeks.

"See you in a few hours Ruby." She said.

"Yeah, bye." Ruby responded. They let go of each other, Ruby turned around and started to walk. Sapphire waved to her, and she waved back. Then she made sure to not look back, 'cause leaving her was hard. And she walked off fast.

It was so nice to be in this pink bubble with Sapphire. Whenever they separated she entered her normal life. Her hard life. Out here, in the world she was walking towards, people told her she was ugly, they said she should go die in a ditch. They hit her, and found her to be gross. Inside the bubble was where she wanted to be. In Sapphire's embrace she was told she had potential, that she was beautiful. And what she said and did mattered, made an impact. She was kissed instead of hit, hugged instead of pushed. Complimented instead of insulted. It felt like two separate worlds that could never meet. But she hoped one day that most if not all of her world could be one big perfect pink bubble. But right now it wasn't. And she had to leave it behind, and come back to it later.

* * *

Ruby walked down the stairs in her home. She fiddled with her fingers while looking at the photos of all the other foster children. All white young children. Apparently they had only stayed for a short while. Ruby was their first that was going to stay. It was odd how they had pictures of them. But she understood, they couldn't have children of their own, both their parents were dead. They wanted something on their walls.

She entered the first floor, walked into the livingroom. Hank and Mona were watching TV as always. Mona read a worn down Terry Pratchett book. They had a them all in a book shelf on the other side of the room, close to the bigger dining table. They both lifted their heads when Ruby arrived.

"Hey Mona, can I talk to you?" She asked. Mona and Hank looked at each other, then Mona closer her book and stood up while she said:

"Sure." They walked off to the kitchen and Mona closed both doors. One that went from the hallway, and the other that went into the livingroom next to the big dining table. Ruby sat herself down on the dining table in the kitchen and sighed nervously. Mona sat down in front of her, seemed to notice something was up.

"What is it?" She asked. Ruby looked down.

"I um, I wanted to ask you about.. Sex?" She said nervously. Mona leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms gently. She seemed relaxed. Ruby looked up, Mona smiled weakly.

"Ask away." She said. Ruby put her hands on the table, leaned forward. She was so nervous about this, but Sapphire had insisted that she'd ask her about this. Neither of them had the answers, and if they googled it only porn showed up.

"This is gonna sound pretty stupid, but what IS it? Like, what is considered sex, what counts as it? And what about virginity? Do you lose it or take it? And what do you lose? How do you lose it?" She asked. Mona grew serious.

"Well most people would regard penis in vagina as sex, and when that is done the virginity on the girl is taken, and the boy has taken it. And what the girl loses is a small membrane with a hole in it that the penis goes through and it pops, and she bleeds. But the idea of the virginity is socially constructed. It was made to be a trophy for men, and women who lost it were seen as used, or not worth as much anymore." She said while she looked out the window. Then she turned towards Ruby again and smiled.

"But I'm sure you're not referring to straight sex." She added. Ruby looked away for a second as she blushed and nodded. Mona leaned forward.

"Well." She said. "Sex is defined as giving, receiving or watching any kind of sexual pleasure with one or more people." She continued. Ruby smiled as she blushed, became surprised.

"Really?" She asked. So she have had sex?

"Yeah. And what counts as a virginity is up to the individual. If you feel you have lost it, you have, if you feel you haven't, you haven't. And if you think the whole idea is silly you can also just not give yourself a virginity in the first place." Mona replied calmly. Ruby sighed. She was so nice about this.

"So everything I've ever been taught in school is a lie?" She asked. Mona gave her a strange look but smiled.

"I suppose so?" She replied and giggled weakly for a bit. Ruby giggled too, didn't feel so embarrassed anymore. And she felt much more relaxed.

"Is there anything else on your mind?" Mona asked. Ruby leaned back in her chair, sighed deeply. There was something else. But she knew it would hurt to talk about it. She dreaded it.

"Yeah, there's one more thing." She said and looked down.

"Uuuumm." She said. Sighed. "Is it normal not wanting to be touched?" She continued, after she looked up at Mona who had a serious look on her face.

"Yeah some people, including some lesbians, likes to give more than to receive and that's perfectly fine." She answered.

"Yeah, but why? Is it because it feels bad for them?" Ruby asked further.

"No, they just enjoy pleasing their partner more than being pleased, but that doesn't mean that it makes them feel bad or scared. They can receive pleasure just fine, they just don't like it. Just like some people like certain positions better than others, or prefers it to be done more on one place over another. People are different." Mona replied.

"So it doesn't feel bad, like, at all?" Ruby asked.

"It shouldn't. Does it feel bad to you?" Mona asked with intense eyes. Her blond hair glowed in the sun coming in from the window. Her eyes under her glasses stared at her. Ruby looked away.

"I don't know, I haven't dared to try. I'm scared it will." She responded.

"Why do you think it will?" Mona asked further. Ruby sighed, shrugged and said while she looked down at her free hands on the table.

".. Because it has before?" She said with a shivering voice. Mona grabbed one of her hands, embraced it with her long thin fingers. Held onto it hard. Ruby looked up. Mona's gaze was filled with worry and fear.

"Oh my god Ruby." She whispered. "What on earth has happened to you?" Ruby's face tightened a bit and her eyes became wetter as every second passed.

"I mean, it's nothing." She said and shrugged. She had a lump in her throat. "I was a small kid and some random dude woke me up in the middle of the night with his hands down my pants, and he dragged them off, and then he tried to.. But he didn't because then mom came in and threw him out." She spoke in a hurry. Mona squeezed at her hand. Ruby looked at her, she looked absolutely terrified.

"Nothing really happened, but I um, I sometimes have nightmares about it, among other things. And when I sleep on my stomach I sometimes feel afraid someone will hold me down. And deep down I kind of feel that my body don't matter as much? I don't know how to explain it. Like, if me and someone else, even a stranger, if we both broke our legs right beside each other and the ambulance came. I would want them to go to the other person first, because I don't matter anyway.." She said with tears running down her eyes. She shut her eyes hard and turned away.

"Yes you do, you matter very very much." Mona responded with a stern but sad tone of voice. She grabbed her other hand, held it just as hard.

"Whatever that happened to you is not your fault Ruby. It had nothing to do with you, nor your body. And your value isn't determined by what happened to you. And now with Sapphire, you shouldn't have to do anything you aren't comfortable with. And I really hope she respects that." Mona said sternly.

"She does." Ruby replied, and started to hold into Mona's hands in return. "She really does. She's nice and gentle, and she asks me before she does anything or wants me to do anything. If I say stop, she stops, and she always says I can stop whenever I want. And if I say no she respects that too, she doesn't even get a little bit mad." Ruby stated as she smiled. The tears began to fade away inside her eyes. She sniffed.

"That's great. I got a hunch she was a sweet girl." Mona said. Ruby laughed a short light laugh, said:

"Yeah, she's the most wonderful person I have ever met. Whenever I'm alone with her, it's like everything bad that has ever happened to me just disappears."

"That sounds wonderful." Mona commented.

"It is!" Ruby responded, she let go of both of her hands and sunk down in her chair fast as she sighed , smiled and looked up.

"Sometimes she makes me so happy that I cry." She said. Mona crossed her arms and laughed.

"Well you are a really expressive person." She said joyfully.

The door opened from the livingroom. Hank poked his head in and said:

"Are you two done? We better get going." Mona stood up from the chair and looked at Ruby.

"Yeah I think we're done." She replied. "Ruby, is there anything you want us to buy?" She continued. Ruby sat up straight in the chair and leaned forward.

"Can you buy a bag of sea salt crisps?" She asked.

"I thought you didn't like that one?" Mona responded.

"Yeah but it's Sapphire's favorite." Ruby responded. Mona smiled to her for a few seconds, Hank stared at the both of them. He seemed lost.

"Yeah OK sure, I'll buy the paprika flavored one for you then." She answered.

"Yes, thank you." She stood up, they all walked out of the kitchen. Hank and Mona walked out into the hallway, while Ruby walked through the door Hank had stood in and into the livingroom. She heard them chat and get dressed while she sat down in front of the TV. The coach was long and empty, she ley down and stretched herself on it. The worm sun lit on her socks. She smiled, grabbed the remote and switched to the discovery channel. It was a program about space, she put the remote down, rested her head on a pillow and watched as anticipation grew inside of her. She knew Sapphire was on her way.

She heard the door being opened in the hallway, and then stepping out. Then they started chatting to someone, and she heard Sapphire's voice responding. She jumped off the couch and ran through the hallway. Opened the small door going into the tiny hallway. Hank and Mona were out on the stairs and shut the door after themselves. Sapphire took off her shoes in the hallway. She looked up, smiled her pretty smile.

"Hey." She said. Ruby stepped into the room and said:

"Heeeey." Before kissing her on the lips. When she released Sapphire took off her coat, she wore a white blouse tucked into tight light blue pants.

"So you're rebelling again?" Ruby asked.

"My existence is a rebellion; she just doesn't know it yet." She said ironically and smiled. Seemed a bit angry, but pushed it in. She sighed. Ruby grabbed her hand, showed her into the long hallway.

"I talked to Mona." She said.

"And?" Sapphire responded and smiled.

"We're totally having sex. And we're totally not virgins." Ruby replied. Sapphire giggled, then she stopped and gave her a serious look.

"Wait did you tell her what we do?" She asked. Ruby blushed.

"What? No, I just asked her what sex was and she said something like: Anyone who gives, receives or watches..? Any kind of sexual pleasure is having sex. And that virginity is up to the person to define, and decide when they lost it." She replied. Sapphire smiled.

"Oh good, See? I knew she had the answers we were looking for." She said. Then she grinned, moved closer to her and said:

"Speaking of…" Ruby immediately caught on and smiled back to her. Ruby grabbed her by the waist, pulled her even closer and pressed her nose gently against hers.

"I must say your pretty Saffy butt looks hot as hell in those tight pants." Ruby stated and grinned. Sapphire immediately started to giggle, and a faint blush could be seen on her cheeks. Ruby moved her hands down to both of her butt cheeks and stroked then suggestively.

"Are you trying to seduce me with the words: Pretty Saffy butt?" Sapphire asked as she grinned.

"Are you questioning my methods?" Ruby asked as she pressed her lips against Sapphire's soft cheek. It was worm already.

"No." Sapphire responded. They kissed. Ruby titled her head, opened her mouth. Made their tongues slip over under and around each other. Her body heated up. Sapphire grabbed her shoulders, had her hot tongue dance around hers. They released, looked at each other and smiled. Then Sapphire leaned in and gave her two soft kisses before releasing from her embrace and grabbed her hand. She pulled Ruby towards the stairs with a weak giggle and a calm gaze. Ruby blushed hard. They let go of each other's hand, rushed up the stairs. Ruby couldn't stop smiling.

She really didn't have to do anything to turn Sapphire on, it seemed. Only kiss her a bit, compliment her in a funny way. And she was ready to go. Yesterday Sapphire had thrown herself on her the second they entered her bedroom after school. They had dressed off each other in the darkness, even the pants, but not the bras. And Ruby had done her very best, it had payd off. So much so that Sapphire had asked for them to do it again later that night. They had just barely finished when her mom called.

They reached the top of the stairs, Sapphire had walked up first. She immediately turned herself around when Ruby reached the top, and grabbed her head. Ruby almost jumped because it happened so fast. Sapphire pressed her lips against hers hard. They opened their mouths again and furiously made out while Ruby grabbed her around the back and made her walk slowly backwards.

They stumbled into the room and Ruby reached out, turned off the lights. Sapphire held her head hard and kissed her, made their tongues dance a hot wet dance at full drive. Ruby's entire body heated up, especially her groin. It had already started to beat with her hot blood. Melting her private parts into a swollen sensitive gland. Sapphire closed the door, it slammed shut. They released.

"Oh my god Saffy." Ruby said and giggled. Sapphire breathed over her face, began to move fast with her hands, dressing off herself. Ruby's head began to feel like a worm cloud surrounded her head, made her not really pay attention to much else but her. How the fabrics of her clothes sounded when they were pulled off her soft skin. Her tiny cold hands cooled her down and heated her up at the same time, while pulling off her T-shirt and dragging down her pants. They moved over her belly and chest, pulled her to the bed and pushed her down on it. Sapphire's soft body lay on top of her and devoured her. Her groin began to release small waves of weak tingly sensations. Sapphire being like this apparently turned her on a great deal. She sighed deeply with delight, spoke softly:

"Sexy Saffy." She said. Sapphire pressed their faces together, opened her mouth right away and stuck her soft wet tongue deep into her mouth. She opened it wide, static traveled up her spine, and she moaned weakly. She grabbed Sapphire's shoulders in this hot darkness, and turned it all around. Sapphire moaned as Ruby pressed her lips against her neck and kissed it hard with her open mouth. She quickly dragged her lips down her soft skin, and licked at the top of her breasts. When she did, Sapphire grabbed her head and moved it up. She seemed slightly out of breath.

"Wait." She said. Then she sighed, Ruby looked up at where she was. But didn't see much.

"Can we.. Take off our bras?" Sapphire added. Ruby looked to the side, thought it through for a few moments. She hated her boobs. She didn't hate how small and perky they were, or how her nipples looked. Honestly, they were perfectly fine. But for some reason it didn't feel right that they were there at all, and she didn't know what to do with that. But it did feel great when Sapphire touched them though, she thought.

"Sure." She responded. Then she sat herself up, and dragged off her sports bra and slung it away, she didn't know where. It was still all dark. The blinds were down. She heard Sapphire fiddle with her bra too, and threw it away. Then she bent down carefully into Sapphire's soft embrace. Ruby placed her face in-between her neck and shoulder. Felt their soft breasts hugging. Her hard nipples pressed just below her own, Ruby grinned with a hot face. Her entire body was so worm, and her stomach filled with butterflies. Nothing existed but this.

Sapphire stroked her now slightly less cold hands over her back. Gently up and down she moved them, Ruby put her arms over her shoulders. Started to kiss her neck again. First softly, but it soon grew more intense. She opened her mouth, used her tongue. She gently slid the tip of it down to her soft breasts and put the tip of her nipple into her mouth. She gently tasted it while she closed her eyes. Sapphire's hand moved on top of her head, and stroked her afro hair carefully.

"You're so amazing baby." Sapphire mumbled. Ruby released, smiled and said softly:

"You too." Then she began to lick on the skin beside the nipple. Everything about her was so worm and soft. She kissed her way to the other boob, and put the other nipple in her mouth, gently licked it. It was something strangely comforting about this. She heard Sapphire pant again.

"Touch me." She whispered. Ruby grinned, moved up to her face and grabbed her boob, stroked it softly in a round grip. She kissed her lips, they were soft and wet. Sapphire's arms embraced her shoulders and neck, stroked them. Ruby moved her hand down her stomach, grabbed her panties and pulled them gently down. Sapphire stepped out of them, spread her legs. She didn't stop kissing her for a second. She moved herself a bit to the side on top of her to make room, Sapphire's hand slid down to Ruby's boob and stroked it up and down.

Ruby moved her hand in-between her crotch, found her vaginal lips and stuck her longfinger and middlefinger gently between them. It was so wet and slippery, the mere sensations against her two fingers made it beam weak hot tingles from her own vagina.

"Saffy." She whispered while she released from the kiss. Sapphire's breath was shaky. She slid her hand up and down gently in-between a few times, just feeling the soft meat make her fingers slide. She felt herself blushing so hard, and delightfully worm beams went up her spine as Sapphire pushed her head close again and pressed their lips together. Ruby stopped stroking up and down in the entire opening, and pressed them gently at the very top, where her lips went together. It was in there the clitoris was. She pressed them gently just below the spot Sapphire had instructed her to touch the first time they did it. Yesterday she had done exactly what they did now, and according to Sapphire when she did it like this, she touched it almost directly. And it had felt much better. So she did it again, proud of herself she was learning this fast. She started making tiny circle movements with the tips of her fingers. Sapphire moaned weakly in her mouth, she released, smiled as she continued.

"Ah, Ruby that's perfect." Sapphire whispered, then she moaned weakly again. It was a deep long moan, and Ruby didn't stop for a second. The moans quivered through her body and made her own clitoris let out more hot tingles. She pressed down a bit harder, she moaned again. She moved a tiny bit faster, and she moaned once more. For a while she did that, again and again, faster and faster. She tried doing it carefully. Yesterday she had done it a bit too hard and Sapphire had asked her to slow down. She didn't want it to happen again. So she kept the pressure steady. And just had her face close to hers, felt her hot breaths, had her lips gape against her very own mouth.

"Don't stop baby." She said with a soft voice. Deep and gentle, like she was singing a beautiful song.

"I won't." Ruby responded just as softly. She moved her hand a bit faster, Sapphire moaned again. Ruby moved her head to the other side of her face.

"God you're beautiful." She said before moving down to the side of her neck and started to kiss it hard. Sapphire moved her arms away from her shoulders and stretched them down her naked back. Her fingertips pressed gently against her skin. Ruby knew what this meant, and made sure to be persistent with her hand movements. Sapphire panted, and began to moan a bit harder than she had before. Ruby pressed harder down, kissed her neck with her tongue. She felt her breathing in it, the big vain on her neck was beating. Sapphire's arms began to tighten and Ruby could feel her crotch shaking slightly against her fingers. She moved her fingers harder and faster. Sapphire moaned really load, it beamed from her own clitoris and she started moaning too. They sang this song together. Sapphire moved her head back, Ruby bit down gently at the very bottom of her neck as Sapphire's hard fingernails bore themselves into her skin. Moved up her entire back hard as cramps could be felt in-between her soft wet vagina.

"Oh my god!" Sapphire yelled out with a high pitch. Then she moaned really hard, bore her fingernails hard into her back, just below her shoulder blades. The hot tingles became stronger, and she moaned. Bit down a bit hard on the space between her shoulder and neck. Sapphire moaned one last long high pitch moan, and it felt so good to listen to. Ruby moaned too, but not nearly as load. Then Sapphire's arms grew heavy over her back, and the muscles in the body below Ruby loosened up.

She moved her head up as Sapphire panted really hard. She moved her hand up, and right in front of Sapphire's open breathing mouth, she stuck her fingers into her own mouth. Made sure Sapphire could sense it. She put her wet fingers in, licked them. It tasted very little, reminded her of the taste of iron. She got a faint memory of sticking her tongue stuck on a cold steel pole. That's what it tasted like, that pole. But only slightly. She put the fingers out, pressed them against Sapphire's cheek and kissed her in her open mouth. Pressed her tongue in as she felt Sapphire's light legs wrap themselves around her lower back. Their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders and backs. And Sapphire moved them both slightly to the side. Their shoulders and right ribs were lying against the sheets. Their chests and faces were pressed together. Her legs were still locked behind her.

They released from their kiss, moved their heads and Ruby pressed her face gently against the place she had bitten her as she sighed. Sapphire still breathed heavily. She smiled to herself, her blush was still heavy. Sapphire started to stroke her back gently again, where she had scratched burned slightly. But she didn't mind. She began to stroke her arm in return with one of her hands. Sapphire's breath grew calmer. Ruby rubbed her face gently against her shoulder, closed her eyes. Felt the softness and warmth of her skin in the dark. The covers hadn't even been over them for a moment. But it wasn't cold at all. Sapphire was a tad bit sweaty, but not so much. And Ruby wasn't sweaty at all. For once she didn't feel soaked.

Sapphire moved her hand up from her back and began gently massaging her neck below her hair.

"Mmh" Ruby said. She smiled broadly, butterflies still flittered in her stomach and her heart beat fast. This is so amazing, she thought. She would take every pounce in her life all over again to get to ley like this with Sapphire. Her fingers on her neck squeezed and pressed, it felt so good.

"You bit me." Sapphire stated rather bluntly. She did seem amused however. Ruby smiled, giggled silently.

"Well, you scratched me." Ruby responded. Sapphire giggled.

"I know, I'm sorry." She said. They laughed together for a little while. Ruby could feel her own chest raise and shake alongside Sapphire's. Her breasts were so soft.

"It's OK Saffy. I kinda like it." She said.

"Me too, the biting I mean." Sapphire stated. Ruby moved her head back, faced her. Her eyes had gotten used to the dark, and she could just barely make out the shapes of her face, the color of her light hair.

"We're so odd." Ruby said. Sapphire giggled. She moved her hands away from her neck, and over to her face. She sighed as she stared stroking it gently.

"Do you want me to do anything to you?" She asked softly.

"No I'm fine. That felt really good for me too." Ruby responded with a smile. Sapphire leaned in, kissed her gently on the lips. They were still soft and wet, dragged across hers gently. Then Sapphire moved down to her neck and pressed herself against her. Made Ruby lay on her back. She gave her neck gentle pecks. They stayed on her worm skin.

"Can I kiss your breasts?" Sapphire asked and moved away from her neck. Ruby smiled. Thought about what she had said to Mona. Sapphire always asked her first, she was so sweet and considerate. Her cheeks were still worm.

"Of course." She replied. Sapphire immediately moved her head down and faced her right breast. She breathed through her nose, her breath was felt on Ruby's worm skin. It gave her shivers up her spine. She smiled.

Sapphire's thick lips opened over her tiny stiff nipple, and then they closed around it. It was sensitive, more so than she had expected. She sucked on it for a few moments, before opening her mouth again and licking it with her slippery tongue. Then she closed her lips again and nibbled gently at it, before opening her mouth and licking gently around it. She kissed around it with her lips and tongue, moved her way to the other boob. Her hand pressed against the one she had just licked, stroked over it with her fingers. Pressed at the stiff nipple between two fingers while she began licking the other one. Ruby let out a weak deep exhale, and lifted her hand up to the back of Sapphire's head. Spread her fingers against her scalp and massaged it. She stopped.

"Do you like it?" She asked softly. Her gentle tone gave her shivers again.

"Yes. It's nice." Ruby responded as she smiled.

"Can I turn on the lights?" She asked further. Ruby sighed, bit her lower lip and responded:

"Mhm." Sapphire immediately moved off her, seemed to make herself sit in the bed before a click sound came, and the yellow light got turned on. Ruby squinted, looked to the side. Sapphire's naked back was bent over, she moved her arms in front of her. Put something on and dragged it up to her knees, then she stood up and her naked butt showed. Ruby stared and blushed. Sapphire pulled her panties from her knees up to her groin. Ruby just barely caught a glimpse of her vaginal lips hanging from behind. It was clean shaven, as she had felt it was. Her face heated up. Sapphire sat down, now with her string on.

Ruby lifted her hand and stroked gently down her back with her fingertips, Sapphire giggled slightly. She was still sitting with her back turned.

"Are you being shy, Saffy?" Ruby asked with a smile. She was so cute.

"Maybe." Sapphire replied. She turned her head, her long beautiful hair was already over her right shoulder. From the side she smiled, her bangs covered her eye, Ruby only saw from her nose and down. She turned her head a bit more, and her beautiful blue eye showed. She had a relaxed gaze when she smiled and looked down at Ruby's chest.

"What do you think?" Ruby asked shyly. She lifted her arms behind her head, her arm hairs showed. It felt like she knew Sapphire liked what she saw, and it made her feel pretty good. Sapphire's hand stretched out, and she turned her body around. Sat on her knees as she put her hand on one of Ruby's perky boobs.

"You're beautiful." Sapphire said softly. Ruby looked down at her chest. Her boobs were big but firm, her nipples much lighter than her own in shade. They were also small, and were placed just right. Ruby's body was so worm, she sighed. The breath that was inside her warmed her up even more.

"Sapphire, you're.. You're perfect." She said as she put her arms down and lifted her head up. Sapphire looked down and her cheeks turned pink. She started to giggle.

"No, I'm not." She said. Ruby moved her hand over Sapphire's that still lay on her own boob.

"You seem perfect to me." She responded. Sapphire crawled over to her in a hurry, sat herself on top of her. Her face was bright pink and she grinned from ear to ear. Ruby looked at her upper body, her broad hips, her skinny arms, her beautiful boobs. Everything was so smooth and tan and clear. She just had to move her hands up, and gently stroke both of her arms. Her hands went down to the middle of her arms, moved in over the bottom of her ribs, and up over her breasts. She held them, they were just as soft as they were before, in the darkness. Her groin began to beat again, she grinned, sat herself up and let go of her boobs. Moved her hands around her lower body and placed them behind her soft back. Stroked it hard as her worm face moved closer to hers. Their breasts pressed against each other. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

"You're hauntingly beautiful you know that?" She said with a grin. Sapphire immediately began to laugh. The very sound of it made a hot shiver travel up her spine.

"What?" Sapphire responded. Ruby giggled back at her, leaned completely in and kissed her hard on her lips. Sapphire's hands moved behind her back as well, while Ruby gave her many closed kisses. They soon opened their mouths, Sapphire tiled her head, their tongues met and danced and mingled. Ruby leaned forward, made Sapphire lay down on her back. She moved one of her hands, pressed it against Sapphire's boob and stroked it hard up and down. The sounds of their skins was soothing. Ruby smiled in their deep kiss, she could do this forever.

* * *

Sapphire sat down with one of her two main teachers. She would have preferred Karen but he told her she was home with her sick child today. She instead sat with a man, Helge. He had thick brown hair, slightly gray on the sides near his ears. And a short brown beard. His eyes were blue, he must have been in his 50's. The wasn't too bad of a teacher, but she often talked to Karen, not him. So she did feel uncomfortable. But Andreas had smacked her on the ass in the classroom today, and yelled out that he was going to turn her so he could get that hot ass. It gave her another small panic attack. And she have had enough.

They sat in a small office near her classroom. Four other teachers had office here, but they were nowhere to be seen right now. The office had white boring walls, shelves filled with books and five desks, all with laptops, books, loose papers and pens. It was messy. Dust soared in front of the windows. She had found the teacher's break room and asked for Karen, that itself was nerve-wracking.

"So, Sapphire. What was it you wanted to talk about?" He asked with a dark almost angry voice. Maybe he had a hard day?

"I um.." She responded. She sighed. She sat stiffly in a computer chair that had been moved in front of the desk.

"There's someone in class who is kinda mean to me." She continued.

"Really? Who?" He replied as he crossed his arms, not in protest but rather it seemed; seriousness.

"Andreas. He's been harassing me for a few weeks now and it's getting really uncomfortable." She replied as she looked down.

"What did he do?" Helge asked.

"He um.. He's been asking me about lesbian sex and saying things like: Why don't you have a hot girlfriend? And: You're too pretty to be a lesbian, I can turn you. And.." She said, but got interrupted.

"Wait, you're a lesbian?" Helge asked. She looked at him nervously.

"Mhm, and the other day he snap.."

"You? A lesbian?" He asked again as he sat back, his eyes were big for a moment. Then his gaze calmed down and he smiled a little bit.

"I would never have thought." He said amused. "Pretty girls like you aren't usually like that." He added. Sapphire's eye opened wide at him. She got a sinking feeling in her stomach. Helge leaned forward still with his arms crossed and said:

"You know, maybe Andreas just has a crush on you. I know I would if I was his age." Sapphire got a lump in her throat, began to feel even more nervous.

"W-what?" She said.

"Think about it. Boys always tease the girls they like a little bit. It's normal." He said, then he leaned back and smiled.

"That boy is such a mess, let me tell ya. But at least he reacts normally to girls." Sapphire began to feel her hands sweating.

"He.. He also snapped open my bra strap in class over my blouse, and today he smacked me on my butt. That's not OK." She said. Her breath was shaky.

"Yes, of course it's not. I will talk to him about that for you. But I can't make him stop liking you though. You'll just have to reject him properly and hope he'll leave you alone." He responded firmly. She wanted to tell him she had tried many times, but by now she was sinking so fast she just had to get out of there. So she nodded, and said:

"Yes, thanks." And stood up stiffly.

"You're welcome Sapphire." He said and smiled. He still sat in his chair. She could already tell that he looked at her differently. Sapphire turned around, walked out of the door and closed it carefully behind her. Then she gave off a long deep sigh. What on earth just happened? Weren't teachers supposed to be good? She asked herself, then she walked on.

* * *

Ruby was sleeping on her belly. It was dark, quiet and clam. She could her herself breathing like people did when they were sleeping. Then two big hands went down her pants, at first she didn't notice. At first she just awoke slowly in silence. The hands were stroking directly on her groin. Fingers going in-between. But there wasn't much there. No vaginal lips, no nothing that felt good, just the hole she peed out of, that's all. It didn't hurt. But once she awoke enough to understand what was happening she felt cold shivers going up her spine. A strange dark voice spoke softly behind her.

"Just like your mother." He said. Ruby got the images of her mom being raped in her head. The cold fear devoured her, not me! She thought. Not me! She began to struggle and scream. One of the hands moved out of her pajamas pants, pressed down at her neck and held her down completely. The other reached out as well, and as it did, it dragged with it her pants and underwear. She understood, tears started running down her eyes. Her neck hurt.

"No!" She yelled. She was no more than 8 or 9, this man was so much bigger than her.

"I wonder how tight you are?" The man said further. WHAT? She thought. She didn't understand.

"Mommy!" She yelled. She felt something being pressed against her groin from behind.

"Mommy mommy momyyyy!" She yelled. For a split second it hurt, she felt it almost going in. But then her bedroom door flung open. Light from it lit up the room. The shadow of her mother went over her bed. Ruby looked up at the man who was behind her. He had light skin, brown hair, he looked over at her mother. But his eyes all though big and awake, didn't seem to see anything. She knew those eyes. Her mother had them sometimes when she hit her.

Ruby looked over at her mother. Her afro stood out from her head, going everywhere. She seemed to be wearing a morning robe. For a moment she just stood there. Fear gripped her again, like a thousand bullets hammering through her body. Was she going to let him do it? Mom hit her, starved her, isolated her, hated her. Did she hate her enough to let this happen? She still had his thing pressed against her, but he wasn't trying to put it in anymore.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Her mother yelled. Ruby sighed with relief. Her body had been so tense. But while her mother walked over to the man, yanked him in the arm so he stood on the floor butt naked and started hitting him with her fists, she relaxed. She still cried, still sobbed. But she was not in danger anymore.

Ruby awoke fast, sat herself up and gasped in shock and terror. She was out of breath, and she immediately started balling her eyes out. She sobbed hard, put her head n her hands and bent herself forward. She was soaked with sweat. This one was far more detailed than the last, she hated the detailed ones.

After she had cried for a few moments she turned on the lights. Her sight still being blurred by her tears she found her phone, and called Sapphire. Of course she would have a nightmare after Sapphire had told her about that creepy teacher of hers. She knew it would happen. Sapphire did answer with a tired voice, and cheered her up by telling her how wonderful she found her to be. How they were going to see each other tomorrow.

It had helped.

* * *

Sapphire was in the school library. Ruby had said she should try to avoid him as much as possible, and since telling a teacher didn't go as she planned, that is what she did. She looked through the books, for once she had gone to the "romance" shelf. Normally she went for more drama or action driven stories, or fantasy. But lately she have wanted to read something that reflected what she experienced. So she looked at the books. Lifted them up, rad their titles. This one was about a shy girl meeting a bout. This other one was about a teenage boy falling in love with a girl who has skinned her head. She moved further down the shelf, picked up one with a woman on the cover. It was about a young woman falling in love with a black man. She put the book down hard, sighed. This wasn't exactly what she was looking for. She looked around herself. The school library was in light colors. A small room filled to the brim with white shelves. She had seen the librarian when she came in, typing on her computer. She sighed again as she realized she would have to talk to her.

Sapphire walked through the shelves soundlessly, and approached the woman sitting behind a big desk. She looked up at her.

"Excuse me, but I was wondering if you had any LGBT themed books?" She asked. The tension grew within her, but she kept it at bay.

"LGBT? What's that?" The woman asked with a calm light voice. Sapphire sighed again. You've got to be kidding me? She thought.

"It stands for Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender? Do you have any books about that?" Sapphire replied. The woman smiled, stood up and said:

"Right, yes, we do actually. Follow me." She walked around her desk, and into the sea of shelves. Sapphire followed suit. Then the woman pulled a small book out of the drama section and gave it to her.

"There you go." She said.

"Is this the only one?" Sapphire asked while shaking the book in her hand.

"Yup." The woman said and seemed proud for some reason. Sapphire looked at the back, read a few lines about it and then looked up at the woman again.

"It's about aids.." She said.

"Yes, the 80's was a hard time for those poor gays." The woman replied, and then she left.

"No kidding." Sapphire mumbled under her breath. She looked down at the book again. Well, maybe she at least could learn more about aids? Not that she hadn't seen every LGBT movie she could come across. So she decided to borrow it.

She walked out of the library with the book in her hand. The door was in a small room with a big open door into the hallway on the second floor. Connected to the stairs that went down to the main big room with the heating oven. The small room she stood in also had a door going into the teacher's break room. She was about to enter the hallway when she heard a hand full of voiced laughing and talking. So she jumped against the wall in the room instead while holding her breath. She pressed the book hard against her chest, felt strong fear spread from her spine.

It seemed to be three boys and two girls chatting. They stopped not too far from where she was standing.

"You know that proper blond chick that goes in 9th grade?" Said one of the girls.

"Who?" Asked one of the boys. The girl responded.

"You know. The one you think is so cute and mysterious." The boys started to giggle.

"Yeah, the hot one. What about her?" One of them responded.

"Well, she's a lesbian. I saw her with that girl, Ruby. They're together." The girl said. Sapphire closed her eyes. Why did everyone know who Ruby was? She thought. Another girl responded.

"Really?" She sounded exited.

"Her? Really? Oh maaan!" One of the boys said. "Remember when Karl, Jonas and Simen and oh it was a bunch of people, they went after her. She really held out." He said and laughed. Sapphire frowned. My poor baby. She thought.

"What's so funny? Poor girl." The girl that was exited responded.

"Yeah, anyway. I saw her with that girl, she must have been upset about something and Ruby came and walked across the hallway and hugged her and kissed her, it was really sweet." The girl continued.

"Awwe." The other girl said again. Sapphire smiled to herself. At least someone thought they were cute together.

"So.. What? I can turn her if I want to." The boy that apparently thought she was cute responded. He sounded annoyed.

"No you can't. It doesn't work like that for anyone." The girl responded. It seemed that they started walking again.

"Yeah but she's a lesbian!" He said.

"No, dude, listen. You're not gay are you?"

"No!"

"And no boy can make you gay?" Sapphire heard a door open, and as it closed she heard the boy say:

"No." Then it became silent again. She sighed with relief. That was quite the conversation, she thought. She looked down at the floor and frowned. So people knows who she is because they have seen her fight for her life? Be in pain? Be pushed to the breaking point? Sapphire sighed. Wanted to call her right now. Tell her how amazing and wonderful and kind she is, and remind her they were seeing each other after school. But class started soon. Oh Ruby.

She had gotten really mad when Sapphire told her about how Andreas had smacked her on the butt. And she had grown really worried when she told her about Helge. She had hugged her, her hands had been shacking, and begged her never to be alone with him ever again. That reaction had scared her, but she hadn't said anything. Then Ruby had kissed her, and touched her again. She had whispered in Sapphire's ear how precious and important her body was. How beautiful and perfect she was. That if something bad happened to her she would go crazy. Sapphire's skin began to feel worm where she stood. Just thinking about it made her so moist inside. She put her phone up from her pocket, looked at the dark screen. She had called last night after having another nightmare. She missed Ruby so badly. All she wanted was her skin against hers again. It was all she waited for, all she lived for these days. Her body ached with the notion that it would happen again later. All her kisses and soft touches remained on her. She had left her in bed late in the evening yesterday too. Ruby had kissed her all over her face and begged her not to go. Covered her with her big protective and soft naked body. Sapphire put her head back against the wall, sighed deeply. She made her crazy. Sapphire smiled to herself as she felt a faint blush appear in her cheeks. At the very top. She put her phone back into her pocket, sighed.

A person walked out of one of the doors back there, feet sloped across the floor. And the back of Peridot's head appeared from her side. She wore black tights and some sort of dark green T-shirt.

"Oh hey, it's you." Sapphire said. Peridot turned around, had a piece of paper in her hand.

"Sapphire? Heeey." She said. "I was gonna copy some stuff, you want in?" She asked further. Sapphire looked down at the front of her loose T-shirt. It was a picture of one of those green super Mario mushrooms, and beneath it, it said: Get a life. She grinned to herself, got the joke. They walked through the door together. They entered a long thin hallway filled with doors going into offices. At the very end a door was open, going into the teacher's breakroom. In there, there was a big room with chairs, sofas, tables and a small kitchen. And a coffee machine. They turned to the right in the very beginning of the hallway, into a small room It had shelves up to the ceiling filled with maps and books, except for one wall. It had a big light grey old school printer and scanner. Peridot opened a small lid on the very top and put her paper in. She closed it, clicked on some buttons and after she turned around. She leaned against the machine and stared at her intensely with her bright green eyes. It was as if she didn't know she could look away.

"So.." She said. "How are things going with Ruby?" Sapphire smiled and felt herself blush just by thinking about her. Memories of their many intimidate sexual moments came to mind.

"Amazing!" She said with a bright smile and sighed deeply and loudly. Then she caught herself in her joy and lowered her head, looked away and said:

"I mean.. It's going pretty well." Peridot burst out in laugher, touched her shoulder and said:

"I believe you." She removed her hand, turned around and looked at the machine spewing out paper after paper on its side. Peridot looked at her, only one side of her face was seen. She stood in perfect profile.

"Haaaave you guys talked about what I should do with Amethyst?" She asked. Sapphire blinked twice. Peridot had been sick since last Friday. And despite how exited the both of them were about it, so much has happened since then. All those beautiful tender moments made it hard to think of anything else but Ruby.

"Right." Sapphire said. Then she grinned again. "Amethyst goes at boxing with Ruby, and last Thursday she asked if they could spar. So what we was thinking was that tomorrow maybe, or something, me and Ruby could come with you into town and Ruby could chat with her and introduce you. Good plan?" Peridot grinned at her, grabbed both of her shoulders.

"Yes!" She said. Started shacking Sapphire gently while she bowed her head back and forth and said ecstatically:

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?"

"You'll finally get to talk to her?" Sapphire replied and grinned. Peridot giggled.

"Yes! Oh thank you thank you!" She yelled out and let go of Sapphire, started jumping weakly on the spot.

"This is gonna be soo cool!" She said. Then she turned around, stopped, and grabbed all the papers.

"OK come on let's go." She spoke monotonously. Sapphire giggled weakly. They walked out of the small room and into the hallway, out through the door and into the small open room she had been standing in. Sapphire looked down at her papers as they walked into where those boys and girls had been talking.

"What are you copying?" She asked. Peridot looked down at it as she smiled.

"Oh, just some lines for a group project presentation." She responded.

"Oh." Said Sapphire. They walked up to each of their doors, Peridot at the green, Sapphire at the blue.

"Text me tomorrow." She said.

"Will do, see yah!" Peridot responded with a bang, and then she walked into the door and disappeared. Sapphire stayed put for a moment. That Peridot was an odd one, she thought. Then she smiled to herself, and walked through the door.

* * *

Ruby was standing in a very crowded bus. She hadn't taken one in so long, she had almost forgotten how awkward it was. She held her arm up and held in a piece of folded rope that hung from a pole, going across the entire bus near the ceiling. Tightly against her stood Sapphire. Ruby wore her thinner bright red winter jacket, and her purple-ish blue hat. And a tiny black scarf. Her jacket was open so Sapphire could lean closer against her, her arms wrapped behind her back underneath her jacket. She apparently have had a bad day, and Ruby could feel her hands trembling. Her face was buried in her scarf. Maybe they stood too close to one another in a public space? Maybe Sapphire should just have come with her home on such a day? Probably, but she had insisted.

Ruby looked down to her side. Peridot had sat down on the only free seat. They stood beside her. She seemed like a pretty cool person, based on what Sapphire had said about her. Maybe she was a little bit skeptic, but the girl was a lesbian and liked Amethyst, and wanted help. So that eased her up a bit. But she always had in the back of her head that people were bad. Apart from Sapphire, Hank and Mona that is.

Peridot looked up, they made eye contact.

"Is she OK? What's wrong?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Sapphire responded.

"She just really hates busses sometimes." Ruby explained further. Her other arm pressed against Sapphire's back. She wore her normal dark blue coat and her white scarf and hat. She also wore a long light blue skirt today. Looks like she had lost a fight with her mother again. Ruby sighed. Smelled Sapphire close to her, she smelled so good. Ruby looked straight ahead, they were almost at the bus station. The so called "bus stop in the town".

"Almost there Saffy." She whispered into her ear.

"Good." She whispered back. Neither of them wore their backpacks. Peridot's school day had ended half an hour after theirs, and they had enough time to go down to Ruby's house and drop them off, and make out a little bit, before going up again to meet her outside the school. Peridot had her backpack though.

The bus drove into the many bus lanes, Sapphire turned around to make herself ready to leave. Ruby closed her jacket, grabbed her gloved hand. The bus stopped, and teens started to slowly walk out of the bus from two doors. One in the middle of the bus and one in the front. Ruby walked out first while still holding Sapphire's hand. Then came Sapphire, and after, Peridot.

It was snowing, and started to get dark even this early in the afternoon. The sea could be seen from here, the docks were close by. Ice cold wind blew from there, she could see that Sapphire trembled from it. Ruby smiled, Sapphire really was a cold fish. They walked straight ahead, on the side of the kiosk. Suddenly they were pushed to the side, against the front wall. It was Peridot who pushed them.

"It's her." She whispered, pressed herself against the wall and poked her head carefully around the corner. Ruby looked at Sapphire while still holding her hand. Then the both of them poked their head out as well, side by side. Ruby recognized Amethyst immediately, she had her long purple hair tucked into a big black knitted beanie. And she wore no make-up, a black leather jacket and a shirt and baggie jeans. She stared at her, remembered her to be more feminine. She was turned towards the two girls she had seen outside Marius' music school with Sapphire. The big one in a long white coat and pink tight pants. And big light orange curls, almost blond. And the other smaller one, thin as a stick. With half long blond hair and big blue eyes. They both had light skin, like a common Norwegian. While Amethyst was a few shades darker than Sapphire, but much lighter than herself. The three of them stood leaned against a high fence that separated the taxi drive in and where the lane was supposed to be. A room covered it all, and sheltered them from the snow. Amethyst seemed to be telling a joke and laughed really hard over it, while the big and small one merely giggled weakly.

Peridot leaned her head against the wall again after she turned back, sighed deeply.

"What do I do? I can't talk to people." She asked desperately. Ruby smiled at her.

"Hey heeey, take it easy. She's really chill. We'll just walk up to them and I'll greet her and introduce you." She said.

"And what then?" Peridot asked further.

"Then, you listen to what we're talking about and try to find something to say." Ruby added. Peridot sighed deeply again.

"Ok, yes, that's a good plan. I can do this." She whispered to herself. Ruby felt a little bit sorry for her. Sapphire hadn't said anything about her struggling to hold up a conversation. Ruby looked over at Sapphire, her wavy hair that hung down from her white hat blew in the wind. She had been standing close to her, silently watching them. But she looked away, seemed unfocused. The light was dimming in the sky behind her, made strong blue colors in and around the few remaining clouds. Sapphire's face matched it, her face was beautiful. Ruby smiled, took off her glove and pressed her naked hand against her cold cheek. Stroked it gently. Sapphire made eye contact with her, seemed to sigh within her closed mouth and chest before smiling weakly at her.

"Hey.. Are you OK?" Ruby asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little.. You know." She replied as she looked over at Peridot for a moment before looking back at her.

"Are you ready to walk over to them? We can wait…" Ruby asked further. Sapphire lifted her gloved hand, placed it over Ruby's naked one, still resting on her cheek. Her hand was shaking.

"No it's OK. I'll manage, just don't let go of me." She said and smiled nervously. Ruby smiled back, nodded to her and leaned in on her face. Gave her one soft kiss. Sapphire's lips were cold, but her breath was worm. Then she put on her glove again, grabbed Sapphire's hand firmly and looked over at Peridot. She stared at them with a weak smile.

"Are you ready?" Ruby asked. Peridot nodded. Then they walked around the corner together. Ruby in the middle, and Sapphire to her left, Peridot to her right. Ruby smiled to herself. Was she the only one of them who wasn't scared shitless by this?

They walked up to them, the big girl and the thin girl turned towards them.

"Oh heeey, Ruby!" Amethyst shouted.

"Heeey, what's up?" Ruby said in return as she waved with her free hand. They walked up close to them. Sapphire's grip tightened.

"Nothing much. We're just chillin' in the cold as always." Amethyst replied. Then she turned to the big girl, Ruby looked down at their hands. The big and the small one were holding hands. Ruby made eye contact with her, saw that she was looking at their hands as well. She smiled at her.

"Rose, look this is the one I'm gonna spar with." Amethyst said to her.

"Hoow nice." The thin one said sarcastically. Ruby looked at her with a stern face for a moment, before she looked over at Amethyst again.

"Anyway, this is Sapphire my girlfriend." She said and gestured at Sapphire. She smiled and said:

"Hello." In a shy voice. She only made eye contact for a solid second before looking down again. Ruby smiled, couldn't help but find it cute. Then she looked over at Peridot who stood beside her with a nervous face.

"And this is our friend, Peridot. She goes to Sapphire's school." Ruby continued, gestured at Peridot.

"Really? What school do you go to?" Amethyst asked and looked at Peridot.

"Umm, Garden City school. And you?" She replied nervously. After she looked over at Ruby for approval, and Ruby nodded.

"We all go right up here." Amethyst replied and pointed behind her with her thumb. It like the rest of her fingers were thick. "At Havetown school." She continued.

"Oh." Answered Peridot. Amethyst smiled to her. Her lips were plump, her face was round and thick. She almost looked like a really short guy in clothes like that. Her demeanor was far more masculine too. Ruby squinted at her. They behaved like two different people but looked and sounded exactly the same.

"This is Rose, and Pearl. My BFFs" Amethyst said. She pointed first at the big one with curls, Rose. And later at the tiny thin one, Pearl. Rose had thick lips, but not nearly as thick as either Amethyst or Sapphire's. Her lips were bright pink. She wore a black winged dip-liner and blush on her cheeks. She had dark brown eyes, a stark contrast to her light hair. Pearl had just as blond hair as Sapphire, but it looked completely natural. She had almost no eye-brows because her hair was so light. And light blond eye-lashed. Big blue eyes. They were very expressive, and aware of everything. Her nose was a tad bit big, thin but pointy. And her mouth was broad and thin. Her thin hair was tucked behind her ears, the rest hung behind her head. But didn't touch her shoulders.

Rose moved closer to them and pulled out her hand. Ready for it to be shaken she said with a bright worm smile:

"Hello! Nice to meet you." She seemed really happy to see them.

"Rose." She said further. Ruby grabbed her hand, shock it.

"Hi, Ruby." She responded. Rose reached for Sapphire's hand, and she let go of Ruby's hand for a moment and greeted her while she smiled. But she didn't say anything. She immediately grabbed Ruby's hand again. Ruby felt worm inside. She smiled, these people seemed cool. She reached out for Pearl and said:

"Hi!" Pearl looked at her hand, then up at her face. She seemed to cringe. Rose leaned in on her, and whispered in her ear. But what she said could be heard.

"Come on Pearl. You can do it." She whispered. Then Pearl who had looked away stared at her again, reached out to Ruby's gloved hand and shook it fast before quickly removing it again. Her hand was naked, and she began to drag it across her jacket as if to dry off the dirt. For a moment Ruby began to grow angry. She was kind of rude. But then Pearl dragged out a tiny bottle of sanitizer from her short light blue jacket and was about to spray some on her hands. Rose put her hand over it and said:

"No Pearl. It won't help." Pearl seemed more stressed, but put it in her pocket again. After, she grabbed Rose's thick naked hand with both of her thin ones, and held them tightly. Ruby calmed herself down internally. She looked over at Peridot who seemed to be talking to Amethyst in a clam manner. They mumbled a few words about Garden city school, and how it sucked. Before Amethyst giggled and said:

"Yeah fuck school, fuck the system!" They giggled a bit together, Ruby smiled and relaxed. Looked at Pearl and Rose again.

"It's nice to see another queer couple walking about." Rose said enthusiastically while she looked at Ruby. She grinned, let go of Sapphire's hand and grabbed her around the waist, pushed her closer to herself while she said:

"It is." She looked at Sapphire who smiled at her.

"Hey, I remember you." Pearl said and looked at Sapphire. Rose looked at Pearl.

"I've seen you in the waiting room at Marius' music school." Sapphire lowered her head a bit.

"Um, yeah. I take singing lessons there." She replied. Ruby looked at her and smiled.

"Nice. Pearl takes violin lessons and I take singing lessons too!" Rose replied enthusiastically. Ruby still had her hand on her hip. She leaned in and gently touched her nose against her hat close to her ear while she whispered:

"Are you alright?" Sapphire nodded right away, looked up and turned to her with a shy little smile. For a moment she wanted them to kiss, but then Amethyst shouted:

"Hey guys! Wanna go inside the mall?"

"Sure." Rose replied. Ruby removed her hand from her hip, grabbed her gloved hand instead. As they walked Ruby looked over at Peridot who still chatted with Amethyst. They were talking about a video game she had never heard of. She then turned to Sapphire who seemed to be noticing the same thing. They smiled to one another.

They walked into the main walking area. The snow had covered the many stones on the ground, paving in eat patterns in the summer. Right in the middle, between many different houses turned their way, was four snow covered benches, they were bent, and made a perfect circle. They all turned towards the main mall with a small staircase going up before going through an automatic door. Two small shows on both sides greeted them in the hot air. One was a small bakery, where it smelled like bread. The other was a small make-up shop. They walked past them, up another small set of stairs before reaching two more shops. One and drugstore and a video game shop. Amethyst dragged Peridot into the latter. As she did, Peridot and Sapphire made eye contact. Peridot smiled.

"We're going up to the book store!" Rose shouted.

"OK!" Amethyst shouted back. They disappeared into it. Ruby turned towards escalators in-between the two shops. One went up and another went down. Rose and Pearl stopped onto it first, hand in hand. Ruby looked at them as they stopped in on it behind them both. She was so used to seeing boys and girls together. Flirting, joking, holding hands, kissing. She had never been one of them, she had always been on the outside. Finding Sapphire in it all was against the odds as it is. But now, they walked among likeminded people. She had no idea what Amethyst was, but she sure as hell wasn't straight. And Peridot was a lesbian, both she and Sapphire were. No matter what Rose and Pearl were, they were two girls who were together. She was normal among them, and not even the butchiest one there. As they stood in the escalator she smiled to herself. She looked down at Sapphire who stood one step below her. She looked up at her, their eyes met once again. While the background moved behind her, while the steel steps in the escalator moved them forward, she looked up at her. Her bangs covered one of her eyes as always. She had a weak smile over her mouth. They stood among these people together. Sapphire had also felt alone, and she had brought them here. Ruby felt heat grow in her cheeks for a mere moment, before she leaned down and kissed her tenderly on her soft lips. Carefully she dragged her lips over hers for a few seconds before the steps on the escalator flattened out and Ruby went into the very end of it where the floor began with the back of her shoes. She was pushed into Sapphire and they both stumbled into the floor closely embracing. Ruby almost fell backwards as she giggled and said:

"Woowow!" But Sapphire caught her by the shoulder and made sure she got balance again. She giggled with her pretty smile, leaned in again as she moved her hand up and touched her face with cold wet gloves. Ruby blushed as Sapphire gave her a couple of pecks. They released, Ruby grabbed her hand and they turned around and started walking again. Rose and Pearl stood together a few meters in front of them and looked at them. Rose smiled with her teeth while Pearl smiled more carefully. As if she was scared her mouth would break if she smiled broadly. Ruby made eye contact with them.

It was as if they felt the same way. That they knew they weren't as weird and strange among them, because they were just the same. Ruby grinned, she had only thought she could feel at home with Sapphire. But it seemed that if people like them came along, she could feel like that with them too.

Rose and Pearl turned around, and walked into the book store straight ahead. Ruby walked behind them, Sapphire walked beside her. There were two escalators going further up above them. Clothing stores around them, light orange tiled floors. Their steps echoed, human mumble stuck behind her ear. They walked into the shop. Above it was a big white sign with orange writing. Notabene, it said. Inside, shelf upon shelves were packed with colorful books. There were smaller stands spread in the middle of the room with new books for sale. Ruby did read, but she imagined Sapphire reading twice as much as her.

They walked over to one if the isles, Pearl lot of of Rose's hand and grabbed a white book. The picture had a cut off cow tail on it. She started reading the back.

"It's really good. You should read it." Sapphire blurred out. Ruby smiled.

"So you've read it?" Pearl responded.

"Oh yes, right now there's three books in the series, and I've read them all. You should absolutely give it a try." She said further. Ruby looked around herself and saw a teenage boy who lifted a hard covered comic book, and started reading inside it. She squinted, what was he reading? She looked over at Sapphire who held a copy of the book herself. She talked about it. Ruby leaned in, gave her a peck on the cheek, as if to say she would still be here. Sapphire stopped talking for a moment and looked at her as she let go of her hand. Then they smiled to each other, Sapphire turned towards Pearl and Rose again and continued talking. Ruby grinned as she walked, somewhat relived she didn't hurt her feelings by separating from her.

She placed herself beside the teenage boy, picked up whatever he was reading. He looked at her once, frowned rudely and moved a few meters to the side. Ruby stared at him and sighed, got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She turned her head towards Sapphire standing a few meters away from her. She smiled and talked and didn't seem scared at all. The finking feeling arose to a worm joy, and Ruby smiled at her. She looked down at her comic book she had picked up again, flipped the pages, read a few things here and there. Sapphire's talking distracted her a bit, but she didn't mind.

She heard a faint gasp and looked up. In the entrance of the book shop Nina, Sapphire's mother stood. She wore a long white coat tied at the waist. She had long brown straight hair, light skin and big blue eyes, just like Sapphire's. She made eye contact with Ruby for a second, chills went up her spine. Oh no.

Nina looked over at Sapphire while she still held one of those books and talked about it. Amethyst and Peridot entered the shop and walked past her. Amethyst almost bumped into Nina and walked close to Pearl and Rose, Peridot stayed right at her side. Ruby put down the comic book and walked slowly over to them while she looked at Nina, who seemed to grow angry. Her eyes were cold and stern.

Ruby moved closer to Sapphire as Nina approached them, and said:

"Sapphire, your mom's here." Sapphire turned around right away and faced her mother. Everyone grew quiet.

"Mom.." Said Sapphire. Nina looked at Sapphire, then Ruby, then down at the hands of Rose and Pearl, then over at Amethyst. She seemed very angry but obviously held it all in.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Nina asked with a low overly calm voice. Sapphire nodded, and they walked off together.

"That woman was scary." Amethyst whispered. Ruby turned to them and said:

"Stay here." Before she walked carefully over to the store entrance and leaned against the wall. She could hear them talking in a slow calm manner. They probably stood right outside.

"What are you doing hanging out with all these lesbians? Didn't I tell you to stay away from those kind of people?"

"Mom.."

"You said Ruby had no friends, she obviously does? And why didn't you tell me you were going to the mall?"

"Do I seriously have to tell you everywhere I go?"

"Yes, I need to know you are safe."

"I am safe."

"You lied to me. And no you're not safe around those people, at least you're wearing a skirt."

"I didn't lie to you."

"That's enough, you're coming with me right now." Ruby poked her head out, saw Nina hold Sapphire in the arm. She could only see Sapphire's facial expression. She was terrified. Nina's head was turned the other way.

"No I'm not going. You're being unfair." Sapphire said as her face grew angry. She still spoke in a clam low key manner.

"I'm your mom. You have to do as I say."

"I haven't done anything wrong." Sapphire stated desperately. Her voice began to rise.

"Yes you have, now come on before I ground you." Nina began tugging at Sapphire's arm, Sapphire stepped back.

"No, I'm not going." She said, her voice rose even more.

"Sapphire, get a grip." Sapphire stepped further back.

"You're hurting me." Sapphire stated as she looked down at her arm. Nina began to walk, she dragged Sapphire along with her. Ruby stepped forward and watched. She got a bad feeling about this.

"No mom stop it." Sapphire said loud enough for people to actually hear. She lifted her arm, twisted it in a way that Nina lost her grip, Sapphire stepped back. She looked behind herself and made eye contact with Ruby. Nina looked at her as well. Sapphire turned to her mother again.

"I'm staying." She said calmly.

"I am extremely disappointed in you Sapphire. If this happens again, you will be grounded." Nina said, then she turned around and walked away. Sapphire seemed to be sighing deeply. Ruby walked up to her.

"Are you OK?" She asked. Sapphire turned around and faced her. Nina was out of sight, Sapphire stared at her first with a cold expressionless gaze. Then it slowly turned into a face of great sadness.

"No." She replied. Ruby lifted her arms, hugged her tightly. Sapphire returned it, they pressed their heads against one another.

"That wasn't right." Ruby stated.

"I know." Sapphire responded. They released enough to face each other.

"Can we go to your house now?" Sapphire asked with a long face.

"Of course." Ruby replied, she leaned in and gave her a couple of soft pecks on the lips. They let go of one another and looked over at the book store. All the others stood at its entrance, Rose and Pearl hand in hand, Peridot and Amethyst beside each other. They all had either a sad or shocked facial expression. Sapphire grabbed her hand and lowered her head.

"Yeah um, we're leaving… Bye." Ruby stated awkwardly. Peridot lifted her hand and waved with a frown. Sapphire waved back. Then Ruby and Sapphire turned around and walked in the same direction her mother had walked. Ruby held tightly around her hand, felt an ounce of anger grow within her. Maybe she had given her mother too much credit?

* * *

Ruby leaned in on her in her bedroom. Her tiny soft lips made her cheeks grow worm. She still felt like she was sinking. Ruby kissed her hard, made them ley down in her bed. The lights were on. Ruby moved her head, began kissing her neck. Sapphire felt a hand move up her leg and press at her groin.

Those kind of people? I am extremely disappointed in you Sapphire. Her mother's words ringed in her head, threw her off. If she knew what they were doing she would hate her. Sapphire's face tightened. Ruby stroked at her groin underneath her skirt, over her panties and stockings. She wasn't turned on at all.

"Ruby, stop." Sapphire said. Ruby stopped stroking, moved her head up from her neck and looked at her with questioning eyes.

"What is it?" She asked. Sapphire grabbed her arm, made her remove her hand. She lifted it up and twinned their fingers together. Ruby looked down at their hands, then back up at her again. She was lying on top of her.

"I feel bad about being here." Sapphire said as she looked away. "If she knew what we were doing she'd hate me." Ruby moved her other hand up, stroked gently over her cheek with her strong soft fingers. She grew worm again, felt guilty about it.

"I understand Saffy. Is there anything else I can do that will make you feel better?" Ruby replied. Sapphire grinned at her, grew even wormer in her cheeks.

"You're so sweet." She stated. Ruby smiled, leaned slowly in and kissed her softly on the lips. Sapphire lifted her hand and pressed at the back of her afro head. Their lips dragged gently over one another for a few seconds, then Ruby leaned back and said:

"We can naked cuddle and listen to Agnes Obel, if you want?" Sapphire looked at her with wide eyes. She was sure her prostatic eye showed. It was so refreshing that she didn't have to care.

"But you don't like her, at all." Sapphire stated.

"I know, but you do." Ruby responded and grinned. Sapphire smiled back and nodded shyly as a response as she felt butterflies in her stomach. It began to take over her guilt.

Ruby had put on Agnes Obel on her computer and plugged in the speakers. She had turned off the lights, and let the light of the computer screen guide them from dressed to almost nude. They had crawled under the covers together.

Sapphire pressed her face against Ruby's bare chest, her nose pressed against one of her soft perky boobs. She sighed as sweet sounds of piano, violin and cello dominated the soundscape of the light blue lit room. Agnes Obel's voice was soft and tender. She grinned and sighed as she felt one of Ruby's hands stroke over her hair, close to her cheek. And the other against her shoulder and upper arm. Her heart rate increased, butterflies flew around in her stomach. A light pressure lingered behind her eyes and nose. They had listened to five songs in a row without a single word. Ruby hated Agnes Obel, said it was too calm and classical for her taste. She was much more into rock, not this. She was so very kind.

Sapphire moved her head up and dragged her body higher up with her arms. She faced Ruby, the tips of their noses touched. Ruby looked at her with eyes that reflected in the dim blue light. Ruby's hand moved away from her hair and against her cheek. Her hands were so worm. It seemed like her entire body radiated heat. Sapphire leaned in, pressed their lips together. For a few moments they kissed softly, nibbled gently on each other. She breathed through her nose, closed her eyes, felt her cheeks growing wormer. Ruby's hand moved behind her head again. She tiled her head, opened her mouth. Slipped a soft wet tongue in-between Sapphire's teeth and against her own. Sapphire opened her mouth wider, put more weight on herself and sighed deeply with her nose. They closed their mouths and pulled their tongues in, opened them again and pulled them out. Let their tongues play a bit, closed their mouths again. The rhythm was found, they opened their mouths once more, massaged each other with their tongues. Hot bolts went up her spine. She moaned weakly, when it was over she felt Ruby pushing her to the side. She didn't stop kissing her for a second. Sapphire got pushed to the other side, Ruby moved her bigger stronger body over her. They released. Ruby looked down at her, stroked her hand against her boob.

"Are you feeling better Saffy?" She asked. Sapphire nodded, smiled and said:

"Yes. I.. I think I want to talk about it now." Ruby nodded, pecked her hard on the lips before she moved back, stepped out of bed and leaned over the computer with her dark naked body. She did wear boxers. Sapphire looked at her butt, at her back and her arms. She blushed, Ruby was so beautiful.

Ruby turned off the music, and as she stepped into bed again she turned on the lamp on the night stand. Her stunning dark skinned body was lit by this bright yellow light. Sapphire squinted for a few moments as Ruby sat herself in front of her. She spread her legs as she sat on her butt, opened her arms and said:

"Come." Sapphire grinned, moved over to her and placed her own butt in-between her open legs. Moved her own legs over Ruby's tights and around the back. Ruby's arms wrapped around her back, and Sapphire's arms wrapped around hers. She pressed her jaw against Ruby's neck and sighed deeply. Ruby pulled at the covers and wrapped it around them both, after she began to stroke Sapphire's naked back, up and down. Sapphire smiled, it felt so good. She began to think through what she wanted to say, her smile faded. She sighed again, this time to get all the weight out of her body, she failed.

"Once when I was 13 I had a fight with mom." Sapphire said. She grinned at the silliness of it. "I don't even remember what it was about, but I was mad at her." She continued. "Later that day when she had a few of her surgeon colleges over I walked in on them and shouted to everyone that she used to be a drug addict." She felt that Ruby's chest that was pressed against hers started to shake. Their boobs were pressed together, the sensation heated her up to her toes. Ruby giggled, held her a bit tighter and kissed her a few times on her shoulder. Sapphire smiled.

"Yeah I guess it was pretty funny." Sapphire stated. Then her smile faded again. "She became so shocked she slapped me across the face, and then she grounded me for 3 months. No TV, do computer, no nothing, for 3 months. I had to go straight home after school, not that I had any friends anyway. But if I wanted to go to the kiosk, or play outside alone, I couldn't. It was suffocating." She said calmly. She felt the pressure behind her eyes and nose increase. Ruby pressed her mouth against her neck and held it there quietly.

"She apologized for hitting me and said she'd never do it again, and she hasn't. But she always says she'll ground me if I don't do as she says. Even over the smallest things, like, not wearing a skirt. Ola can do whatever he wants, but I? Sapphire, don't get your skirt dirty, don't play rough you're a lady. Don't shout, do your homework two times over, I know what's best for you, do as I say." She continued as she had her forehead against Ruby's shoulder. Pressed against her hard. Her eyes began to get wet.

"I always have to be talented and perfect and neat. If I break the rules I get so scared, I don't want to be locked in like that again. And now I'm with you, I'm not straight, I am breaking not only her rules but her values. She's gonna hate me. It doesn't always feel like she cares, more like she just wants to control my every move." She stated as tears ran down her eyes. They dripped on Ruby's boobs. She looked down at them and her very own as her sight grew blurry.

"I know I shouldn't complain, especially after everything you have experienced. It's nothing. I'm a spoiled brat, I get everything I point at, I shouldn't even have anything to cry about." Sapphire said as she sobbed. Ruby hugged her tightly.

"You have good reasons to cry Sapphire, don't think your feelings doesn't count." She said.

"Mom says I'm always over-reacting. That I'm too sensitive." Sapphire responded.

"You're not. She's wrong." Ruby said rather aggressively. She moved herself back, made Sapphire face her. Her gaze was stern, but also very sad. She grabbed Sapphire head and held it hard.

"Listen Sapphire. Don't let anyone tell you that what you feel is wrong. Nothing justifies what she's doing to you, no matter if she does it because she cares it shouldn't be like this. You are your own person, her job is to watch over you and make sure you don't get into real danger. Not to control your every move. Make you feel bad for being social." Ruby said with a firm voice. Sapphire stared at her with great despair, tears still ran down her face. Ruby leaned in, her slim dark lips pressed themselves together.

"It makes me so sad that you have to experience something like that and I don't know how to fix it. But I'm on your side no matter what. I'll do anything for you." She said and smiled weakly with a saddened gaze. Sapphire sobbed.

"Baby-hy-hy." She said and pressed her face down against her collar bone. Ruby wrapped her arms around her head and held her tightly. Sapphire sobbed hard, her chest was shaking, her body felt numb. Her face tightened, the pressure beneath her face came out, and tears dripped into her hands which she had placed over her face. They completely covered it, dimmed her cries perhaps a little bit.

"It's OK Saffy, baby, you're gonna be fine." Ruby whispered in her ear. Sapphire sobbed harder. She pressed her palms hard against her face.

"I'm sorry!" She yelled. "I didn't mean for this to happen!" She said further, shouting in her sobs.

"It's alright Saffy. Just get it all out." Ruby said a bit louder, followed by a sea of kisses against her shoulder and neck. Sapphire removed her hands from her face, sobbed a bit weaker. Wrapped her arms around her shoulders and neck, and locked them behind her head. She closed her teary eye and prostatic eye, and let the kisses come. Ruby moved her arms away and grabbed her head again. Sapphire only sobbed silently now, Ruby's lips pressed against her cheeks and lips. First she kissed her left cheek, filled with worm salty tears, then the right. She moved her way down to her lips with a weak trail of kisses, and pressed their lips together softly a few times. Sapphire sniffed in, snot had gathered in her nostrils. Her face was tired, a weak headache beat behind her forehead. She opened her eyes, looked at Ruby's beautiful face kissing her. Closed them when Ruby kissed her cheeks again. She smiled. She was such a good girlfriend.

"You're amazing." She whispered with a shaky voice. Ruby moved back, Sapphire opened her eyes again. Their gazes met, Ruby's eyes were glassy.

"So are you." Ruby responded before she leaned in again and kissed her hard on the lips. They did that for a long time, and her sobs faded into the late afternoon, and disapeared.


	10. Chapter 10 Mending

Boltsofaccseptance . tumblr . com

* * *

Trigger warning: Homophobia, violence. Adult content: Sex.

* * *

Sapphire walked out of the tiny room she almost always went to when she had panic attacks. Of course she had one, after she had called Ruby for a bit, and now she was ready to meet the classroom again. Today she had her singing lesson, and Ruby was going to spar with Amethyst at boxing. She closed the door behind her as she daydreamed about Ruby boxing. She smiled and hummed while her light feet and thin slippers tapped against the floor. The hall was empty and all sounds she made seemed much louder than they really were. She walked towards the stairs on the edge of the building, away from the main entrée, away from the locker room.

"Hey!" A boy's voice yelled. She recognized it.

I'm sorry I saw nothing.

She turned around as she remembered his upper body poking up inside a white bright square. It was him. The brown-haired tall silent boy who had watched them kiss, had heard what she said to Ruby. Had let those boys harass her.

"Hey, you.. What's your name again?" He asked. He stood at the very edge of the long hallway, all alone with a thin hooded jacket in his hand. Sapphire froze, spikes of fear went up her spine. He started walking towards her, put on his dark grey hooded jacket. He seemed stressed, but not angry.

"It's OK if you don't wanna tell me, I get it." He continued. "I just wanted to say sorry, for spying on you guys." Sapphire lowered her head, blushed slightly from pure embarrassment. Everywhere she went now boys sexualized her and her orientation, was he doing the same? She couldn't tell.

He reached her, and stopped a few meters away from her.

"Listen I.. Um." He said. He crossed his arm tightly against his body and looked away. "And sorry for what the other guys did out there. I would have said anything if I could.. But at least she came right?" He said and tried to laugh it off nervously. Sapphire closed her fists. Her fear died down.

"Do you have any idea how scary it is to have boys push me against a corner like that? I never know where it might lead, and it happens all the time. How can you let something like that happen if you don't agree with it?" Sapphire asked calmly. He didn't seem too bad. For once a boy didn't try to turn her or harass her.

"I know I'm sorry! But like, if something bad happened I would have done something." He replied. He seemed really remorseful.

"Would you really?" Sapphire asked, looked at him. She did feel a bit angry in fact. The boy sighed deeply.

"Why are you even friends with them?" She asked further. He let his arms fall down and shrugged.

"We are childhood friends, they live right next door. I can't just ditch them, you know?" He replied. His eyes were dark brown, but his skin was light. He looked down at her. Sapphire looked away, thought back to the girls who she used to play with who turned against her. No, she thought. I don't.

"Look, if it happens again I'll say something, I promise." He said and held out his hand. Sapphire looked at it. Was this some sort of pact? She grabbed his hand, shock it.

"I'm Heine by the way." He added.

"I'm Sapphire." She said. They let go, Heine looked down for a moment.

"So.. Has it been difficult being out?" He asked.

"Why do you care?" Sapphire asked back at him. He shrugged, put his hands in the pockets of his hooded jacket and looked away. Sapphire put her hand carefully over her lips.

"You're gay aren't you?" She asked again. He sighed deeply as he shut his eyes hard, as if the word alone hurt him.

"Don't tell anyone OK?" He said.

"I won't if you keep your promise." She said and smiled, she was only half joking. He smiled.

"I will." He said. Sapphire sighed, leaned against the wall with her back.

"It's actually really difficult. Everywhere I go people act as if I'm odd, or more interesting or I donno.. " She said. "Boys keep flirting with me and some make me really uncomfortable. People talk about it, and I really don't like people at all." She said as she slowly sunk down to the floor on her knees. Heine sat down as well, a meter away from her. He seemed to listen carefully.

"Was it like, a moment you felt you were ready and then you just did it?" He asked. Sapphire smiled.

"No." She said. "It was more like, I was seen with Ruby and had to stick up for her. And after it just spread, but I'm OK with that." She replied.

"Why?" He asked.

"Why? Because everyone seems to hate her. So I need to show her that I don't, and that I want to be seen with her. No matter how scary it is, no matter what people say." She answered as she smiled carefully. Heine moved his knees up to his chest and stared at the floor.

"That's actually pretty cool of you. I could never ever do that. If I came out I am sure I'll get beat up every day, even by my friends. They sometimes talk about gays and they say some really bad stuff." He said with a tender yet sad voice.

"I didn't even get how much pressure I was in before I came out. But now, even though it's hard at least I'm not living a lie. No matter what I hear from anyone, I'm with her so then it's OK." Sapphire stated as she looked at him. As she spoke his eyes grew glassy, and he let his forehead fall on his knees.

"I could never do that." He mumbled.

"But you don't have to do like I did, and just throw yourself in it for the sake of someone else. You can always wait until you're done at this school." Sapphire suggested with a smile. Heine lifted his head and looked at her, he smiled. She still felt the anxiety brewing underneath her skin but it was weak, and she could function like a normal person.

"That's my plan." He said and sniffed. She smiled as she stood up.

"It seems like a good plan." She said. He stood up as well.

"Yeah." He said. "Thanks for talking to me. I haven't really told anyone, I don't know why I told you." He added.

"Maybe you really needed it. And you're welcome. Just don't let your stupid friends harass me again." Sapphire said as she put her hands on her hips. She wore a bright blue skirt today, and a neat white blouse. It almost looked like an English school uniform for girls. It was an amusing thought.

"I won't!" He said, he started to walk away from her, he waved.

"Thanks for the talk!" He yelled. Sapphire waved back but didn't say anything, then she turned around and sighed. He seemed nice, but in all honesty she only spoke to him so a boy could be on her side. She didn't want what his friends did to happen again. If Ruby hadn't showed up when she did..

Sapphire started to walk, she looked down at her feet. I wonder what Ruby is doing right now? She thought.

* * *

Ruby sat on the metal stairs behind the small school building. She still had her cellphone in her hand. Sapphire had called, Ruby sighed. Put the phone in the pocket of her pants. She only wore a black hooded sweater and loose dark grey pants. It was cold, big snowflakes fell calmly on the ground. The wind was silent, it damped from her mouth. She lowered her head, pressed her naked palms against the metal stairs. She felt the pattern of it against her skin. It was ice cold. She did freeze, yet she still stayed worm. The back of the school was silent, empty, and calm. Only teens went here, so there was nothing to play with. Deep snow covered the ground. She stood up, turned around and walked up to the very top of the short stairs, and stepped in front of the door. She was about to open it when someone else did it instead, from the other side. She met Fredirik's ugly face, he looked down at her with big eyes. Ruby stepped back and walked backward down the few steps of stairs again.

"Ruby, oh hello! What a pleasure to meet you out here!" He said ironically with a false smirk. Two of his friends who as always were by his side stood beside him. One of them smiled, the other didn't.

"Get out of my way Fredrik!" Ruby yelled, but she wasn't angry. Fredrik approached her, seemed even taller on the top of the stairs.

"Awe, are you scared?" He asked with a pouty face. Ruby walked away from the stairs in her thin shoes she only were supposed to wear inside. The show near the staircase had been moved and flattened out. She walked a few meters away from them.

"No!" She replied, she lied. She lifted her fists in an unbalanced stance. The boys walked down the stairs and approached her.

"I'm not mad, and I don't want to fight you!" She yelled further.

"Too bad for you then, you ugly dirty dyke!" One of Fredrik's friends yelled. He was mostly all talk.

"Go kill yourself!" Fredrik yelled. Ruby sighed.

"And now you're saying it again! Why do you do that!?" Ruby yelled back. She was so tired right now. Sapphire was so sad, all she wanted was to get through the day and see her.

"Shut the fuck up!" Fredrik yelled in return.

"Can't you guys just.. Not fight me?" Ruby asked calmly. The boy who didn't smile in the beginning looked at Fredrik, seemed to actually think for once.

"You're gonna say some really fucked up shit, I'll get mad, we fight each other, I'll hit all of you, and you'll beat me up. And then you leave, and I just stay here, and it repeats some other time next week. But what's the point?" Ruby asked with a firm loud voice.

"I said shut the fuck up you stupid black bitch!" Fredrik yelled, he was beginning to get really angry.

"Like seriously? WHY do you do it? You keep saying it's because I make you angry, but you're the one who approach me. I haven't done anything, so there's something about me that makes you angry?" Ruby continued.

"Shut uuup!" Fredrik yelled.

"You're not secretly black are you? That's impossible!" Ruby yelled and grinned. Fredrik's eyes opened wide. His face grew pink. Oh this is too good, Ruby thought.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Fredrik yelled and started running towards her. Ruby turned around and ran as well, her grin faded as she ran all she could in her skinny shoes. She knew now what it was, and he was going to beat her up anyway. She turned around, Fredrik approached her while the two others watched with curiosity. They had never done that before. Ruby tied her fist, made herself ready and when he approached her she hit him right in the stomach. He fell to the ground screaming.

"Aren't you tired of fighting yourself?" She asked calmly as he looked up at her while holding over his belly.

"I'm fighting you!" He yelled. The he lifted his hand and hit her right over her left eyebrow. It burned and she fell down on her back, landed in the snow. The other two boys appeared while Fredrik crawled on top of her. They grabbed her arms and lifted them above her head, pressed them against the cold snow. Fredrik sat up straight, on top of her.

"Looks like I finally found your soft spot!" Ruby yelled with a smirk, anger filled her from within.

"I'm not gay!" Fredrik yelled. Then he hit her right in the stomach. Ruby's arms tightened as pain grew from his hit, some air pressed out of her lungs as she screamed. When she caught her breath again she said:

"You're the one who said it, not me!" She yelled back at him. He moved up in her face.

"Fuck you, you're so ugly and disgusting you'll die alone. Nobody will ever want you!" He yelled. It stung, Ruby's eyebrows tightened.

"Is that what you think about yourself!?" She yelled.

"Shut uup shemale!" He yelled back at her, he lifted his hand and hit her right across the face near the jaw with his fist. It exploded in her face and she creamed with all her might. She tried to lift her arms up but they were still held down by one boy each. He laughed.

"You're so fucking weak and ugly, you deserve to die!" Ruby's eyes grew watery as anger hammered in her chest. Her face beat with pain. She kicked with her legs, but there was no use.

"If I'm so weak why can't you beat me one on one, huh gay boy!?" She said and grinned. He lifted his hand again, beat her in the exact same spot. She screamed once more.

"You'll die a virgin you fucking bulldyke!" He yelled. She screamed for a few seconds, then the scream faded and she breathed heavily, she looked at him as tears ran down the sides of her face. She started to giggle to herself, die a virgin you say? She thought. Fredrik stared at her with a shocked expression as she laughed louder still with tears in her eyes.

"I'm not the one hiding who I am! So good luck being with women you don't actually like!" Ruby shouted as her laughter sunk into her stomach and faded. Fredrik moved down and lifted his hand again.

"I'm not gay!" He yelled, then he hit her so hard in the stomach that all the air in her lungs got beat out of her. She choked, her eyes opened wide and she gaped and gasped for air. Fear filled her entire being as she tried to breathe. Is this what it feels like to die? She thought. They let go of her while Fredrik still sat on her legs. Yesterday Sapphire had been sitting right there, on top of her. Naked and pretty she had stared down at her body and smiled. She had stroked her cheek, and said:

"You're so beautiful."

"You're so fucking disgusting!" Fredrik yelled in her place. "I hope you hang yourself tonight!" Ruby regained her breath, but she still breathed heavily.

"You're crazy!" She yelled. Her body was tired, she didn't even bother lifting her arms. He stepped off her, kicked her leg with his foot. It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.

"You're so pathetic." He said calmly with an angry face.

"And you're so gay." Ruby responded just as calmly.

"No I'm not!" He yelled back as he started walking.

"Gay gay gay gay!" She yelled as her eyes grew wetter. She heard them walk up the stairs while Fredrik repeatedly said to his friends that he wasn't gay. She curled up on her side as they walked in through the door and closed it. Her face still beat with pain, and so did her stomach. She pressed her warm palms against her cold face and sobbed. Tears pressed out from her eyes in the shadow of her hands. I'm just as bad as him, she thought. He calls me dyke, now I called him gay. Maybe I should die?

Images flickered in her head of her finding a knife, cutting both of her wrists right in front of Fredrik and his friends. She would bleed to death right in front of them, and she'd yell:

"My blood is on your hands!" Ruby sobbed hard. Sapphire was too good for her. She thought back on yesterday, of their many kisses. Her warmth, her softness. Ruby loved it, she didn't deserve it. Her sobs sunk to her stomach and became silent, she removed her hands and looked up at the gray sky with blurred vision. A snowflake almost landed in her eye, she rubbed it away with her fingers. She hated how she got when she was attacked. If Sapphire saw her she was sure she would be disappointed in her. If she saw her mad, she would probably be scared of her. Maybe even break up with her? Ruby's face tightened again as she sobbed one weak long sob.

"No-ho.." She whispered. Not that. Not ever. She was just over-reacting. Sapphire wouldn't do that.

Kill yourself, nobody will ever want you, you're disgusting. She had heard it so many times, from so many different people. The words had attached themselves to her skeleton, and would probably be there, forever. But Sapphire had stroked over her body and told her how beautiful she was. She didn't think what everyone else thought. Ruby sat up in the snow, rubbed her wet eyes with her closed fists. She sniffed. I have to see her, she thought. No matter if she has a singing lesson later. School was almost over anyway.

* * *

Sapphire sat in the classroom. Karen was the teacher, Sapphire had zoned out as she drew scribbles next to her fully finished math assignment. Karen spoke and snapped her out of it.

"Looks like we're done for the day! Thank you for today and have a good afternoon!" She yelled out with a smile. Sapphire closed her books calmly and sighed as students stood up from their chairs in a hurry with books in their hands. She stood up slowly, walked in-between students who were on their way back. She found her locker and opened it with a code, put her books in and took out the few she needed for her homework. She slowly walked back to her seat and put everything in her backpack as everyone chatted around her.

They started walking out, closed up together in a messy line since the door could only take two at the time. She put her backpack on, Artur looked at her and smiled, she smiled falsely back for a second before looking away. Thursdays were always the worst. Then she knew she wouldn't get to see Ruby for more than five minutes. She moved forward in the line, came out of the classroom and into the small room with a green and blue door. She exited the blue one, the double door in front of her was open. She walked into the hallway with the stairs, students were all around her. Her eye widened for a second, in the very bottom of the stairs right in front of her she sat, Ruby.

First excitement filled her being, but she sat with her head in her hands, and why was she here? It was immediately replaced with worry. The other students stared her down a few seconds each before moving along.

"Ruby?" Sapphire asked as she approached her. Ruby moved her hands down and looked up. She had her dark red headband tied over her hairline, the rest of her dark afro hair stood out everywhere. Right away Sapphire could see a darker mark on the side of her forehead, right above one of her thin eyebrows. Sapphire lifted her hands and kneeled down in front of her, held her cheeks with both hands. Ruby's face was worm, her eyebrows were tight and she looked away. Seemed to be a mixture of angry and maybe somewhat ashamed? A bigger mark she saw; was on the side of her jaw. Great sadness filled her.

"Oh Ruby, what have they done to you now?" She asked gently. Ruby moved her gaze and stared at her. First she looked angry, but then her face tightened up in a silent cry. Sapphire couldn't even take a second of it, so she leaned in and kissed her hard on the lips.

"Yeah! Get it ON!" A boy's voice yelled. She didn't even know who said it, but she jumped, released and looked around herself while Ruby sank down and pressed her face against her shoulder. Sapphire turned to Ruby again and moved her arms around her shoulders, pressed her as close as she could. The students disappeared down the stairs, she heard someone walk on the stairs above their heads. She stood up, grabbed her hand.

"Come on." Ruby stood up and Sapphire lead them in through the classroom door again and closed it. They walked into the classroom. It was completely empty, even Karen had left. Sapphire turned around as they let their backpacks slip off their arms and fell to the floor. She looked at Ruby and opened her arms, hugged her tightly. Ruby pressed her head hard against her neck as her hands pressed against her backbones. They pressed so hard up Sapphire's back she almost had to stand on her toes.

"I had to see you." Ruby said with a lump in her throat. Sapphire stroked her back. She wore her thinner bright red winter jacket. A somewhat sharp sound was made when her naked hands stroked over the fabrics.

"I don't mind." Sapphire responded calmly. Ruby pressed even harder against her back, it almost hurt. Her chest started to shake a little bit.

"I'm just so tired of fighting." Ruby said further, then she started to sob weakly.

"I know." Sapphire responded again.

"I'm tired of being this awful person who has to fight and hurt people and be told I should DIE! It's like I'm not even a person." Ruby yelled, Sapphire moved back and lifted her head up with her hands. Ruby had tears running down her face, and she looked away.

"But you are, and you're a wonderful person at that." Sapphire spoke softly. She felt a light pressure underneath the skin of her face. Around her eyes and nose. She frowned. They made eye contact. It was beginning to get dark outside, so what lit up the room were bright white lamps hanging from the ceiling. It lit up her eyes somewhat. Her dark brown eyes with an orange tint to it were glassy and focused.

"It doesn't feel like it." She responded and sniffed. Sapphire stroked both of her cheeks.

"I know it doesn't. But they don't know you. They have no idea who they're talking to. But I do, and I think you're wonderful." She stated passionately while she moved herself closer to her face. The pressure behind her eyes increased and her eye and prostatic eye started to become a bit wet.

"You're kind and sweet and beautiful and amazing." She continued. "I can't even comprehend that everyone around you can't see that." Ruby lowered her head a bit.

"Don't you see? Outside my home I'm only like that with you!" Ruby shouted in distress. Sapphire pressed her nose against her forehead.

"Don't you think I know that?" She asked. Ruby lifted her head, stared at her. Her eyes were angry, sad, confused. Her gaze changed slightly every second. She seemed to be thinking hard.

"You do?" She asked. Sapphire smiled gently and sniffed.

"Of course. People talk about you. Even Peridot said she was afraid of you but I think that has changed. People say you were angry and defensive but never outright mean. Or that you defended them. Or they share some crazy story of you getting beat up." She stated softly.

"Why are you even with me if you know how horrible I am?" Ruby asked with a tight voice. She seemed to have stopped crying.

"You're not a horrible person Ruby. But even if you were, I think I would still like you. But I probably wouldn't have fitted so well with you and it probably wouldn't have worked out. But you're wonderful and gentle, and tender. If I ever see you beat up someone or have a tantrum, it wouldn't change how good you've been to me. It wouldn't undo all those stories of you defending people." She said. The mere words made her blush, even with a lump in her throat.

"Really?" Ruby asked. She didn't seem shocked, but rather she began to smile weakly.

"Of course. You're the kindest person I've met, and no stupid fights are gonna change that." Sapphire added as she grinned. Ruby smiled back to her with her teeth, she still had tears in her eyes. Sapphire leaned in while she stroked her tears away with her fingers. She kissed her gently on the lips, tilted her head and closed her eyes. Dragged them over hers first gently, then harder and harder. The blush in her face increased, and butterflies appeared in her stomach. Sapphire released, made sure to keep their faces close together still.

"Let's go to your house." She said.

"But you have singing lessons today…" Ruby stated as her smile faded.

"Yes but I don't care about that right now." Sapphire replied, Ruby grinned and nodded. She leaned in and gave her another kiss before she stepped back and grabbed her hand. They found their backpacks and put them on. Sapphire walked out of the classroom first, she looked back at Ruby who stared down at her feet, but she smiled. Sapphire turned around, smiled to herself. Maybe this wasn't going to be such an awful day after all?

* * *

The halls were empty, and she had dressed herself in front of her locker. Then she had grabbed Ruby by the hand again, this time with gloved hands. They pushed themselves out the main doors together, and into a dark day with deep blue skies and dimmed sunlight. The wind was silent, a few students stood beside the stairs. Normally every single one would stand by the bus stop, and many did. But some stood near them here, and turned to them as Ruby and Sapphire walked down the stairs. It wasn't dark enough for Sapphire not to recognize them. Three boys from her class, one of them Andreas, and the two boys who had been mad at Ruby the last time she had waited outside for her. Ruby let go of her hand and held her over her shoulder instead, pushed her closer.

"See, I told you they would come." Said one of the boys from her class. They stood together at the bottom of the stairs. Ruby pushed her really close, they both stared at the boys. Fear gripped her and she froze. Normally she felt like this without a reason. Normally it was all in her head, but as the boys closed in on them she knew she felt like she was supposed to, and that Ruby probably felt exactly the same.

"What the fuck is your problem!?" Ruby shouted. She sounded more scared than angry. Sapphire looked away, pressed her face against Ruby's ear as she started to hyperventilate.

"What the fuck is YOUR problem you fucking dyke!?" Andreas yelled out. "You made her weird, she got me in trouble! It's all your fault!" Ruby spoke in return, the sounds moved in her lungs, made her jaw move. Sapphire closed her eyes hard, beams of fear went up her spine.

"My fault!? You're the one who harasses her! And you better fucking stop, or else.." The boys began to laugh, some a bit too loudly. Ruby moved them over to the empty wall, pressed Sapphire against it and turned around. She lifted both of her arms up, as if to protect her from them. Sapphire felt tears coming behind her eyes, she knew it wasn't her who needed protection, but Ruby.

"You're so fucking stupid! You think you can beat all of us!? Oh maaan.." One of the boys yelled out. They moved closer to them again.

"Ugly and stupid!" Another boy yelled. "Bulldykes am I right?"

"Shut the fuck up! I'm gonna beat y'all up!" Ruby yelled. She started to hyperventilate too, and Sapphire could feel her lungs breathing deeply even with the backpack on her back. She dragged it off herself and it fell to ground near their feet, she lifted her arms even higher. Sapphire moved her arms around her chest, pressed her hard against herself.

"No don't fight!" She yelled out. The she pressed her face against her afro hair from behind and said softly: "It's hard enough to see you with bruises." She continued, Ruby moved her head to the side for a second.

"How did something so gross even happen!?" Andreas yelled. "It's only hot if it's two pretty girls." He added, then he moved closer to them, right up in Ruby's face.

"You have lesbian sex don't you?" He asked softly.

"Shut the fuck up before I kill you!" Ruby yelled in return. Sapphire moved her hands back, Ruby pressed her harder against the wall. Tears started running from her eyes, this made her so uncomfortable on so many levels.

"Tell me, is she tight?" Andreas asked again. A few of the boys gasped, so did both Ruby and Sapphire. Ruby moved fast, Sapphire closed her eyes hard, and before she knew it Ruby had thrown herself on top of the tall lanky boy and beat his face with her naked closed fists.

"YOU'RE SO FUCKING DEAD!" She yelled with all her might. Sapphire stared at them, could only see the back of Ruby's head. Her voice was so mad, she had never heard anything like it. But it was a faint cry in there. The four other boys came in, and threw themselves over Ruby, she got lifted up, pushed away, and then three of the boys charged her and she fell down under their fists and kicks. It all happened so fast it was almost impossible to catch everything that happened. But Ruby screamed, tears ran down Sapphire's face. She still stood against the wall.

"Ruby!" She yelled. For a few moments she had been frozen to the ground, attached to the snow lit by the dim cold sky. But she snapped out of it, ran over to them a few meters ahead. Ruby could be seen lying on her back, taking hits all over her body. She covered her head with her lower arms and had her knees bent up. But it didn't seem to help much. She screamed and cursed, but exactly what she said was difficult to understand. Sapphire stepped back a few meters and ran forward again. In panic she pushed one of the boys on top of Ruby, he was completely surprised and fell over. When he did, there was an opening and she fell on her knees and bent over Ruby and lifted her arm, used it as a shield. The boys stopped hitting and stared down at her.

"STOP! NO MORE FIGHTING!" Sapphire yelled with a lump in her throat. They lowered their arms for a few moments in silence; Sapphire looked up at them while she still hyperventilated. Their dark bodies stood right in front of the school building. As if it looked over them from behind. The silhouettes were threatening, they could beat her if they wanted to. Images flew in her head, of three boys dragging her by the hair and sitting on top of her. Fear gripped her body, tears ran down her face. Yet at the same time she was so furious, how dared they behave like this? How could people be so mean? Keep Ruby safe, she thought.

Weak sounds of bus doors opening came from the side, they all turned towards it. The bus had arrived, and students at the bus stop began to walk inside of it.

"Shit." One of the boys said. Andreas pointed at Ruby.

"Imma finish you later, dyke!" He yelled. Then he and all the other boys started running towards the bus. Sapphire looked down at Ruby who had been breathing against her side this whole time. Ruby relaxed and let her head down, let her hands that had been closed and ready to hit fall against the snow. She sighed deeply with relief, so did Sapphire.

"Are you OK?" She asked. Ruby lifted her arms again, grabbed them around her head and pushed her down hard. Sapphire's face pressed against her scarf.

"No, it hurts all over." She replied, then she growled, it turned into a weird tight laugh. "Oh my goooood." She said further. "I can't believe you did that." Sapphire grinned, she had stopped crying. She lifted her head up in her strong grip and looked down at Ruby. She smiled.

"No way I was gonna let them beat you up." Sapphire responded. Ruby's smile faded.

"You saw me when I was mad." She stated with a low tone.

"Yes, but as I said; it hasn't changed anything." Sapphire replied. Ruby grinned again, pressed at her head. Sapphire leaned down and kissed her hard with her closed lips. Ruby kissed her hard in return and breathed over her face with a quick loud breath. Then she pressed her face against Sapphire's cheek and said softly:

"You're unbelievable." Sapphire giggled and moved away, sat herself up on her knees.

"Come on, I don't want to be here a second longer." She said, then she stood up on her feet and let out a hand for Ruby. She grabbed it, and got pulled up. Her balance seemed to be somewhat compromised, and she shut her eyes hard as she got up. Her other hand held over her left ribs.

"Aweee." Sapphire said, she leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. She put her arm under one of hers and helped her keep herself up. Ruby grinned at her, they started walking together.

"Tell me if I walk too fast OK?" Sapphire spoke softly. Ruby grinned while clearly being in pain still, said:

"No it's fine. This is perfect."

* * *

Ruby stood in her cold bedroom. The ceiling light was off, but the night stand light was on. Sapphire had turned on the heating oven, but the room hadn't wormed up yet. Her body was beating with heat so she didn't mind it when Sapphire dressed off her carefully. Ruby lifted her chin up a bit, smiled and closed her eyes. Sapphire pulled off her sweater, her tank-top and her sports bra so carefully one would think she was made of glass. Then she pulled down her pants and had Ruby sit on the bed, pulled her pants and socks off. Then she sat up right beside her and hugged her tightly still with her clothes on. Ruby lifted her arm, pulled at her blouse tucked into her skirt. Sapphire released, smiled to her and stood up. Stared to dress off herself in front of her. Ruby leaned back and stared at her, she felt the heat increase in her body and face especially. When she was done she stood in front of Ruby for a second and looked down at her. Ruby leaned in and pressed her forehead against her stomach, she lifted her arms and wrapped them around her lower back. The skin on her slim belly was so soft on her face. Ruby rubbed her cheeks and nose against her for a little bit before she felt her arms move around her head and press gently against it. Before she knew it Sapphire had moved herself down, and sat down in her lap. Ruby pressed her head against her shoulder, sighed deeply. She could hear her breath, her heartbeat. She smiled.

Ruby moved back in the bed, and Sapphire moved along with her. When she moved, she felt slight pain in her ribs, stomach, arms and legs. She growled weakly, let her head fall down against the pillow. Sapphire placed herself on top of her and moved the covers over them both. She looked down at her with a sympathetic gaze. Ruby smiled, she felt her heart beating hard in her chest. Sapphire's fingers pressed against both of her cheeks, her bangs hung over her prostatic eye. The rest of her big wavy blond hair hung over her shoulders and when she moved directly above her; her hair surrounded their heads. Her light blue big eye looked glassy for a moment. Her face tightened a bit. Ruby grinned. Sapphire leaned completely in, Ruby closed her eyes and tiled her head a bit to the side. Their lips pressed against one another hard, Ruby moved her hands around her back and pressed them gently against her shoulder blades. Sapphire's tongue slipped in and she opened her mouth wide. Her tongue was worm and slippery and wet, she smiled. Worm spikes went up her spine. Sapphire's gentle tongue movements were electric. She breathed through her nose, pressed at her back a bit harder. She began to forget how little she meant. As she faded into a hot blur of flittering feelings she thought back on herself lying in the snow, wanting to die. Being told she should kill herself. Sapphire's touch was so gentle, so considerate. Everything she did was wonderful and so very brave. She had been thrown around and beaten to the ground like a rag doll with no significance. And Sapphire had dressed off her as if the tiniest fracture of her skin meant the death of her. She had been shown human kindness properly for the first time from her foster parents. But this? This was something else. The sharp contrast of just ten minutes ago and now shook her soul. She was so used to it, she didn't expect anything but fighting, insults, and bruises. Everything Sapphire did contradicted everything she had ever felt, everything she had ever known. Sapphire's tongue and lips pressed and moved and massaged her mouth, her lips, Ruby sighed deeply and smelled her. Her body was so worm, her groin beat hard, her spine lit her up from inside. This was still something getting used to. Ruby's closed eyes turned slightly wet, as if it was her very own tiny little secret. Is this what I've been missing out on? Was it that bad? She thought.

"That's the saddest thing I've ever heard!" Sapphire had said that time on Halloween and cried. Now she understood why it was so sad, why she had cried.

Ruby had zoned out in the kiss, tears pressed underneath her eyelids. She let go, opened her eyes and the tears ran down on the sides of her face. She looked at Sapphire, she was teary eyed too, but didn't outright cry like she did.

"Why are you crying?" Ruby whispered.

"I was just thinking about how awful it was to see you be in so much pain. And then I started thinking, like; has that been your whole life? Have you really experienced something so scary from everyone around you all your life?" Sapphire replied, tears started dripping from her eyes. Her face tightened.

"No wonder you're so broken, and defensive, and so very insecure. And it shouldn't ever have been that way, and I wish I could go back in time and take little Ruby with me and place her here from the get go. But I can't and you're still getting beat up and people despise you and I don't know why because you're wonderful." She stated with a big lump in her throat, her voice was shaky. Tears dripped onto Ruby's cheeks. She grinned, sobbed silently beneath her, her sight became blurred.

"I can't believe you exist." She said softly with a quick laugh coming from the very core of her throat. Sapphire leaned in, kissed her hard on her closed lips before she released again.

"And your beautiful body.." She said. Then she moved down, Ruby smiled. Tears still ran from her eyes.

"It should never have been beaten or shamed, or violated." She said further, then she leaned down and kissed her upper chest, made a trail down to one of her boobs and kissed it hard as she sniffed. Ruby's eyed widened for a bit, violated? Did she know? She thought. Sapphire looked up again, Ruby placed one of her hands on top of her head and stroked her hair. She looked down at her dark skinned somewhat chubby broad body.

"It should have been caressed, hugged and held." Sapphire continued. Then she moved her head down again and kissed her way down to her navel. Ruby looked at her every move. Her hair fell over her shoulders and tickled against the sides of Ruby's body. Sapphire had the covers over her back, and it moved down along with her. Light shone on them both. Sapphire stopped, looked up at her. Ruby stroked her head gently with her hand, she giggled and sniffed.

"Hey baby, come here." She said. Sapphire grinned, her face turned bright pink and she moved herself up again. She dragged the covers up with her, and faced her with a soft worm breath as their bodies pressed against one another. Ruby moved her hand away from her head and pressed it against her cheek. She felt her wet tears on her face. Sapphire closed her eye and sighed, leaned against her hand.

"Thank you for defending me." Ruby said softly. Sapphire opened her eye and grinned broadly. "And thanks for not finding me scary when I'm mad." She said a bit louder. Her voice started cracking.

"I always thought of myself as a horrible person. And that I'd somehow reveal myself and then you'd know and leave me." She stated further with a lump in her throat. "But you're here. I can't believe you're here." She said even louder, tears ran down the sides of her face again. Sapphire frowned, leaned in on her fast and kissed her on the lips. They wrapped their arms around one another, Ruby kissed her back hard. The muscles in her forehead tightened, along with her eyebrows. Tears still ran down her face when she opened her mouth and had their tongues meet once more. Sapphire grabbed her face, tilted her head on top of her and pressed their bodies together. She could feel their boobs squeezing against one another, Sapphire sighed deeply from her nose. Ruby's groin began to beat again, she moved her hand back, pressed against her shoulder hard and turned them around. They rolled to the other side of the bed and Ruby found herself to be on top.

They released and stared at each other in silence. Ruby had stopped crying, Sapphire lifted her tiny gentle hands and dried off the tears on her cheeks with her fingers.

"I want to look at you this time." She said. Ruby grinned and blushed.

"Me too." She responded. Ruby moved her hand down between them and pulled at Sapphire's panties. They were pulled down to her knees and Sapphire took over as Ruby moved a bit to the side. As Sapphire pulled off her own panties with her hand and feet Ruby pulled down her own. Her groin began to beat with tingles as Sapphire made eye contact with her and understood what she was doing. Ruby grinned, kicked off her underwear and placed herself on top of Sapphire again. They still had the covers on top of themselves. All they saw of each other were their upper bodies. Sapphire spread her legs and lifted one of them a bit up, Ruby moved in-between it and got into position. Sapphire lifted both of her hands on her shoulders as Ruby reached down to her groin, opened her wet vaginal lips and pressed them against Sapphire's tight. She moved forward a bit while she lifted her hand, she looked down at Sapphire below her. She sighed a light silent moan as she smiled, her face was bright pink. Ruby moved again, made sure to move her torso a bit more. The skin of her tight rubbed against the skin over her clitoris, and weak tingly hot sensations spiked from it. She moaned weakly as she stared into Sapphire's eye. They smiled to each other, Ruby heard her breathe deeply in and out. She moved her head up, their lips met gently as Ruby moved her hand down in-between her legs. Her fingertips felt their way into her vaginal lips and right at the spit she liked so much, she rubbed it gently as she moved herself again. Sapphire moaned gently, her full lips were slightly open. Ruby moaned too, and grinned at her.

"You're so beautiful." Ruby whispered. Sapphire smiled, Ruby continued to move her fingers, Sapphire moaned again. Then Ruby pressed her lips against hers as she made an effort to move herself as well. As she did, Sapphire's arms clung to her back. Their mouths opened when Sapphire moaned again, Ruby titled her head, concentrated on her fingers, the movement of her own torso, and her tongue. So many things, for a moment it was all consuming. Hot tingles came from her groin again and she moaned, they released, Sapphire moaned into her mouth too. The very sound made her quiver; she opened her eyes and looked down at her. She still moved, and outside of her own vagina slid against her tight. She opened her mouth and moaned as she stared down at her. Her face was clam, pink and beautiful. Her eyes closed sometimes, when she moaned. She had a weak smile in the corners of her mouth, and her bangs had fallen to the side of her forehead, exposing her other fake eye.

Ruby blushed really hard, made sure to rub her a bit faster as she still throbbed her. Sapphire moved her head back and closed her eyes, her eyebrows tightened and she opened her delicate mouth a bit. Her lips were glossy. She moaned a long deep one. Hot shivers went through all of Ruby's body and tingles came from her vagina, and she moaned as well. Her body was worm and she began to sweat a bit, her groin was melting. And she could feel herself sliding over her thigh a bit easier after every wave of hot tingles. She moved her fingers a bit faster, and Sapphire did it again. She moved her head back, closed her eyes a bit harder this time and she moaned louder. Ruby's eyelids grew heavy as she moaned too. Then Sapphire looked at her again and grinned from ear to ear. They both panted in each other's faces.

"Baby." She whispered in a shivering breath. Ruby smiled, leaned down and kissed her hard on the lips. She began to move faster, with her body and fingers. Everything grew so much wormer, and the waves of tingles came more and more often. They grew more intense, and Ruby moaned harder, she released, Sapphire moaned louder into her mouth. Then Ruby pressed her face against her neck and concentrated hard on everything she was doing. Sapphire's grip around her back tightened, but her fingers weren't pressed against it this time. The hot tingles grew so intense and good that she moaned hard, and her body began to tighten. She moved herself harder, moved her hand and fingers harder, and Sapphire moaned hard into her ear. Worm cramps of complete and utter pleasure devoured her being, much more so than before. She moaned long and hard as her body movements grew slower and harder. Her hand still moved hard against Sapphire's groin. She moaned too, and hugged her really hard.

"Oh my god!" Ruby yelled as she shut her eyes hard, and moaned. Sapphire was shaking beneath her, she moaned too. Then Ruby had to let go of this wonderful feeling, and she let her body grow heavy on top of her. She panted while she pressed herself against her, Sapphire's hands stroked against her sweaty back underneath the covers. Sapphire breathed into her ear.

"Oh my god baby, that was really good." She whispered out of breath.

"Yeah?" Ruby responded as she giggled a bit. It was pretty good for her too.

"Yes, you're getting the hang of this." Sapphire added further. They both giggled together for a few moments while still embracing, keeping each other out of sight.

"I guess I'm a fast learner." Ruby said and lifted her head up. She leaned her head on her hand, and pressed her elbow into the sheets. Sapphire looked up at her with a pink face and a bright smile.

"Seeing you like that made me so happy Ruby." She said gently, then she lifted her hand up to her cheek and stroked it. Ruby grinned, leaned down and kissed her on the lips a few times before she released and said:

"Me too Saffy." She moved her hand down to her boob and stroked it a little bit. It was her other hand. Not the one she had touched her with. Sapphire smiled and looked at her, Ruby giggled a bit. She didn't know why. Then she moved her hand further down and stroked at her clean shaved groin. She put a finger in between her vaginal lips and just let it wander around randomly. Her vagina was still wet and beating. Ruby blushed again. She let the finger glide up and down a bit, Sapphire smiled and closed her eyes. Ruby felt her way to what seemed like the hole going inside her vagina, at the very bottom of her vaginal lips. She pressed the finger in gently. What surrounded it were wet meaty walls pressing gently against it, beating as if it had its own heart. It reminded her of the inside of her mouth, it was worm and wet. But not as wet as it was between her vaginal lips. It was like a hidden world of its own in there. Hot shivers went up her spine. The covers were over their groins. Sapphire spread her legs a bit more as she smiled to her.

"Another one." She said softly. Ruby leaned down and tasted her lips gently as she shoved another finger in there and pressed them deeper inside. She gently pushed the two fingers in and out, imagined that was what she was supposed to do. Sapphire bit her lower lip and closed her eyes, made a weak low key moan.

"How am I doing?" Ruby asked. Sapphire smiled with her teeth, she didn't answer. Instead she moved her own hand down, pressed at her hand and moved her torso up. As she did, she removed the covers and Ruby got a look at it for the first time. Her own legs were pressed against Sapphire's, and she ley on the side. Her own vagina didn't show, but her pubic hairs did. Sapphire moved her torso down and slid her hand up her arm , Ruby could see her staring at her as she looked down at her.

Her clitoris didn't show, but there was a really small lump of pink-ish skin where it would be, right where the lips split up. The lips themselves were darker in shade than the rest of her tan skin, and a tad bit pink. They were bigger than her own, but still beautiful. Her lips opened to a pink glossy opening, and at the very bottom she saw her own to fingers disappearing into it. A shiver came again, and her groin began to beat. Her heart beat faster, and her face grew warmer.

"What do you think?" Sapphire asked. Ruby looked up at her, smiled.

"You're beautiful." She said. Sapphire grinned and blushed. She smiled broadly for a moment, and sighed. She seemed relived, then she changed her gaze from Ruby's eyes and down on her body. Ruby looked down at herself too. They looked at her small boobs hanging tightly from her chest, two small folds of fat lying right underneath them. And her belly, hanging a bit on the side, towards the sheets. Her torso was turned and hid her vagina, which still was pressed against Sapphire's legs. Tying their three legs into a neat knot. Her tights were also somewhat big, nd she hadn't shaved anywhere. Ruby felt like she was sinking for a bit, beside her Sapphire's skinny yet curvy body ley. It was such a big contrast. Ruby sighed deeply as she looked at herself. Then she looked up and met Sapphire's eyes while still having two fingers inside of her. Her hand had stopped moving.

"You too, you're stunning. " Sapphire said. Ruby smiled, her face heated up a bit more. She wondered what she saw in her, but none the less, she was glad she did. So Ruby leaned in and kissed her cheek as Sapphire moved her hand down again to press her hand against Ruby's. She lifted her torso again, and made Ruby's fingers go deep inside, she looked at her and said:

"Bend your fingertips." Ruby nodded, did as she was told. For a little while her fingers wandered aimlessly in there, pressing against the sides, and then at the bottom. She looked down a few times as if it would help her see what she was doing, whenever she looked up again Sapphire smiled gently to her. What was she even looking for? Was she supposed to bend them upwards? She tried it out, and when she did she felt as if in front of her fingers there was a small soft pillow that had been pressing at her fingers, and when she pressed up behind it, her tips met a slightly harder wall, it was uneven. Ruby had never had the courage to even do this to herself, in fear that it would hurt. How Sapphire dared to let anyone, let alone someone like her to do it was beyond her understanding.

"Do you feel that?" Sapphire asked carefully. Ruby nodded as a slight fear began to face her. What if I hurt her? She thought.

"Rub against it." Sapphire continued. Ruby started rubbing gently. Sapphire moved her chin a bit up and sighed deeply. Ruby stared at her face intensely, the fear began to fade. No, she thought. I'm making her feel good. This is good, I'm good.

"Harder." Sapphire whispered as she sighed again. Ruby leaned in on her and moved her fingers a bit harder, she stuck to the circle movements. Their lips almost touched when Sapphire moaned a long weak moan into her mouth. Hot bolts went up her spine.

"Am I doing well?" Ruby asked. Sapphire smiled, nodded weakly but fast and whispered:

"Yes." Ruby smiled back, leaned completely in as she continued to rub her fingers inside of her. They opened their mouths as Sapphire began to move her torso gently back and forth. Sapphire's wet tongue slipped into her mouth and it danced with hers, they made a rhythm. As they opened their mouths wide and Sapphire tiled her head, the same sort of rhythm was made with Ruby's finger and hand movements, along with Sapphire's torso movements. Sapphire moaned weakly into her mouth as she moved one of her hands gently against the side of Ruby's neck and rubbed it a few times. Then she moved it down to her chest and rubbed her boob, Ruby sighed as butterflies flapped their wings inside her stomach, and her groin beat with pleasure again.

She moved consistently, could still feel her body hurting, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but this. She kissed her deeply, moved her fingers inside of her, and her mind sunk into deep worm place as she began to move herself gently against Sapphire's leg. Sapphire released, and broke their oral rhythm.

"Go faster and harder baby." She whined fast, her eyebrows were curved into an expression of pleasure and the lips that had spoken against her own opened, she moaned. Ruby did as she said, she opened her mouth a bit wider and moaned a bit louder. Ruby smiled and blushed hard as she leaned down again and kissed her in her open mouth. Sapphire began to move her torso even faster. Ruby released again, just to look at her beautiful face.

"Try different movements." Sapphire said in a low shivering voice. Ruby blinked twice, tried to think of what to do. She made the movements linear instead, as if she wanted to scoop something up from above.

Sapphire shut her eyes hard, lifted her chin and moaned lodly. Then she opened her eyes a bit and smiled. Ruby began to pant as weak hot tingles came from her own clitoris, just by watching her.

"I have wanted you for so long." Sapphire stated in a shaky whisper.

"I know." Ruby whispered back. Sapphire's face tightened again, Ruby rubbed harder. She had no idea what was happening inside of her or how it even felt remotely good. But it obviously did. Sapphire held the moan in, then she looked at her again after she had closed her eyes. She panted hard.

"Try to move your fingers a bit in and out." Sapphire suggested, followed by a long moan. Ruby smiled nervously, this was beginning to get really hard.

"OK." She whispered. This had already taken quite a while, but it was so worth it seeing her like this. Ruby did as Sapphire said, and tried to do everything even faster. A sticky sound came from her fingers, moving inside of someone else's vagina, the notion blew her mind still. She grinned.

"That's perfect, don't STOP!" Sapphire said, the last word turned into a loud moan. She moved her hand away from Ruby's boob and moved both of her arms up and around her head. Her tiny hands tugged at Ruby's afro hair.

Sapphire closed her eyes hard as Ruby gave off weak slow moans. Her groin beat with tender pleasure as she could feel the inside of Sapphire's vagina contracting. She pressed harder inside it as Sapphire's legs and torso and belly started shacking slightly. Sapphire moaned really hard as she pushed her head back into the pillow. She still had her eyes shut and her mouth opened wide. Ruby stared with big eyes and a grin over her worm face. She moaned weakly, moved back a bit and stared down at her body for a few moments. Her beautiful breasts, her skinny belly. Her legs open wide, her hot vagina. She looked up at Sapphire's face again and moved closer, she did it even faster. Her hand began to feel tired. She leaned down and kissed her cheek a few times, felt Sapphire's face curl up in a smile. Then Ruby leaned back and looked at her again.

Sapphire opened her mouth as wide as she probably could, and her face turned from something delicate to almost looking like she was in pain, and then she screamed the loudest and highest moan Ruby had ever heard her do. It sent hot intense shivers up her spine, and throughout all her organs, and to her fingertips and toes. And she moaned herself, a loud one. Sapphire's face was bright pink. And in that moment, Ruby could feel her hand getting wet with a small amount of worm fluid. It squirted into the almost closed palm of her hand. She looked down at it surprised. Sapphire let out a few weaker moans as her belly started contracting into what looked like spasms. She let go of her head, Ruby put her hand out gently and looked at it for a moment. It couldn't be pee? She started down at Sapphire again, she grinned from ear to ear as she still moaned weakly. It almost seemed like she was still feeling it. Ruby smiled to her while she still held her hand up.

"What was that?" She asked. Sapphire giggled as she breathed heavily.

"Female ejaculation." She replied.

"Oh." Ruby responded and started to giggle too, perhaps a bit relived. She dried off her hand on the sheets beside herself, on the other side of Sapphire. Then she leaned in on her as Sapphire exhaustingly panted with a limp sweaty body. She was so very sexy.

"Did I do well?" She asked with a grin. Sapphire nodded and put her arms around her back.

"You did so good!" Sapphire stated excitedly, Ruby started to laugh.

"How did you even do that? Do you have any idea how long it took for me to learn that!?" Sapphire shouted in her short breaths. Ruby laughed even louder.

"That's because I'm a sex wizard!" She yelled out, she moved one of her hands into Sapphire's ribs and started to tickle her hard. Sapphire laughed out loud, she grinned broadly.

"AAhh Ruby no, not nooow!"She yelled as she panted. Ruby grinned.

"Laughy Saffy!" She yelled out as she continued to tickle her. Sapphire lifted her legs and moved her arms around.

"Rubyyy!" She yelled. Ruby stopped as her own giggles died out.

"No but seriously, I just did what you told me to. I have no clue what I did." She stated calmly with a smile. Sapphire still giggled a little bit.

"You umm, you massaged my inner clitoris." Sapphire replied.

"Inner clitoris? I thought it only was that little thing.." Ruby said surprised. Sapphire grinned, she still blushed hard. Her lips were glossy and pink. Ruby felt her cheeks prickle.

"No actually it is kinda big." She said and looked down. She lowered her hand right above her groin and patted her underbelly gently.

"It is under here, and it has a small point sticking out above the vagina followed by a big lump. It also has two little arms on each side going down beside it. It looks really weird." Sapphire spoke with little giggles spread in-between every other word.

"Why didn't I know this until now?" Ruby asked and smiled. But she was serious. Sapphire leaned closer to her, Ruby felt a gentle hand stroke down her arm.

"I donno, it should be taught in school I guess. I had to look it up myself." Sapphire replied. She sighed deeply and grinned. Ruby looked at her and yawned. Sapphire's hair was messy and her eyes seemed somewhat tired, but also very loving.

"Do you want to nap?" Sapphire asked. Ruby nodded and reached out for the light. Both of their cellphones were placed on the nightstand. The light was shut off and it became pitch black. The covers were moved over them both again. Sapphire pressed her nose and lips against her cheek in the darkness.

"No matter what other people say, I adore you." She whispered gently. Ruby grinned, a strong warmth spread in her body. She turned her head a bit and met her lips with her own. Kissed them gently while breathing through her nose. Sapphire's arms moved up to her shoulders and back, they opened their mouths gently and let their tongues dance for a bit. Ruby released.

"I'd take any beating to get through the day and be with you like this." She said. Sapphire sighed deeply right in front of her face. Her breath was worm, Ruby smiled.

"I don't want you to take any beating at all, ever." Sapphire said with a low tone.

"I know, but I don't care." Ruby responded as she pressed her face hard against her neck. Tears pressed underneath her eyelids again.

"All I care about is you." Ruby stated as the blush in her cheek grew heavier. She knew the weight of her words, but they were true.

"Me too baby. You're all I think about." Sapphire replied with a lighter tone. Ruby closed her eyes hard for a moment and sighed deeply as the tears behind her eyes faded.

"How did I ever deal with all this shit without you?" She asked with a weak giggle in her throat. She moved her body and face down and pressed her face against Sapphire's boobs. Her southing heartbeat drummed gently against her ear. She sighed again, this time much calmer and slower.

"You're strong. We both are, but I keep asking myself the same thing." Sapphire answered. Ruby yawned again. Two soft small hands moved against her hair, held across her headband that was still tied around her head. Ruby smiled, she hadn't even noticed it was still on. Sapphire pulled it off and threw it away.

"I guess lesbians do need protection after all?" Ruby said jokingly. Sapphire inhaled, then she let out a strong loud laugh. Her hands pressed harder against Ruby's head. She giggled along with her.

"Yeah I guess so." Sapphire commented. Then she giggled weakly for a few seconds before it grew silent. Ruby closed her eyes and smiled, yawned again and listened to Sapphire's heartbeat. Her soft body pressed against hers, Ruby sank into its warmth. Her boobs were like pillows. Ruby smiled even though her arms and legs hurt a bit. This safety she felt was such a stark contrast, but it was lovely. Sapphire's hands stroked over her upper back. Ruby sighed deeply again. Her mind drifted, and before she knew it, she was asleep.

* * *

It was dark and quiet, the world closed in on her. It was almost like she could feel it, that this silence would be interrupted. For a moment she slept, the next she awoke to the sharp sounds of her cellphone ringtone. She jumped weakly, lifted her head. Ruby moved her head, it still lay on her chest. Sapphire looked to the side and saw the screen on her phone was lit up, she grabbed it and saw it was her mom calling. She sighed deeply, pressed on the green button on the screen and pressed the phone against her ear.

"Hello?" Her tired voice said.

"Sapphire? Why aren't you at home? It's Thursday." Nina spoke in the other end, she seemed angry. Sapphire yawned, Ruby moved her head again. Pressed her nose and lips against one of her boobs but stopped moving after that. She could barely be seen.

"I know." Sapphire responded slowly. "It's just.. Something happened to Ruby and I couldn't bring myself to go home."

"What happened to her?" Nina asked. She seemed more mad than anything else.

"That doesn't matter." Sapphire replied.

"Yeah well, you have singing lessons today and I'll pick you up before it begins." Nina stated with a sharp voice.

"Hold up." Sapphire said, then she pressed the phone down against her collar bone and looked down at Ruby in the darkness.

"Ruby are you going boxing today?" She whispered.

"I donno, I don't feel like it." Ruby replied just as quietly. Sapphire put the phone against her ear again and said:

"I don't want to go to the singing lesion today."

"You're going! We're paying money for those lessons." Nina said.

"I don't care, I want to stay here." Sapphire responded. Ruby sighed and pressed her face a bit harder against her boob. Sapphire's hand stroked up her back for a bit. She understood that Ruby didn't want her to go. And neither did she.

"I'll come and pick you up before it starts." Nina stated slowly with mild anger.

"No mooom, please don't. I don't want to go." Sapphire replied.

"Do as I say, or you're grounded." Nina said calmly. Sapphire sighed deeply. Rage filled her being and she blurred out rather fast:

"Ground me all you want, I don't care. You can't control me anymore." Then she hung up, and immediately turned off her phone. Her eyes grew wet as she put it away, she sighed a deep shaky breath. Ruby moved herself up and pressed her face against the side of her neck, Sapphire moved her hands over her shoulder blades and hugged her tightly. Ruby's lips pecked her neck many times, it made her smile a little bit despite everything. A cold fear brewed in her blood still however, and she felt her lower lips trembling slightly.

"I think she's gonna ground me." Sapphire whispered. Ruby stopped kissing her and hugged her tightly.

"When she comes I'll stand by you." She said a bit louder.

"I know." Sapphire whispered again. She pressed her face against Ruby's ear and held her even tighter.

"I should never have said that, she's gonna lock me up and I won't be able to see you anymore." She stated as her voice cracked.

"Saffy no no noo." Ruby said softly. She lifted herself to the side, grabbed Sapphire's head and pressed it against her own chest. Sapphire moved herself on top of her and rubbed her face against her upper chest as tears began to drip from her eyes. She sniffed.

"No matter what happens, we'll find a way, I promise." Ruby said further. Sapphire felt her hair being stroked gently by Ruby's strong soft hand. She sighed.

"Okay." She said. Ruby's lips pressed themselves against her hairline. Sapphire closed her eyes in the darkness, her tears began to fade. She felt so safe, and she knew the moment her mother came she would miss this, more than anything.

* * *

Ruby walked down the stairs with Sapphire behind her. The room they walked into smelled of vegetable soup, it smelled nice. The door to the kitchen was open, and they walked inside while Mona and Hank were putting the soup casserole and some flat bread onto the table. They both looked up and their faces changed from something calm and fulfilled to intense worry.

"Ruby? Your face.." Mona said.

"Those boys got you good this time didn't they?" Hank added with a gentle voice, His gaze was intense. Ruby nodded as she sat down. Sapphire sat down beside her. They didn't seem shocked to see her here, they must have seen her shoes in the hallway.

"First I got beat up at GC2 and then I went to see Sapphire and some of the boys there still hates my guts, so I got beat up there too." Ruby said, when she finished she sighed and looked over at Sapphire. They made eye-contact. It was clear she was still upset about it. Mona nodded to Sapphire.

"You saw it happen?" She asked. Sapphire nodded and looked down.

"Yeah, she defended me actually." Ruby responded, she lifted her hand and stroked Sapphire's cheek for a moment. Sapphire looked up and stared back at her with a weak but tired smile.

"She jumped right in the way." Ruby added. Then she looked over at Hank and Mona, who both stared at Sapphire and smiled.

"We really appreciate it Sapphire, thank you." Mona said. Sapphire looked down, smiled and lifted her shoulders a little bit.

"Any time." She replied tenderly, she was being all cute and shy again. Ruby smiled, felt a weak blush appear on her cheeks.

"Guests first." She said. Sapphire reached out and helped herself with the soup.

After they all had helped themselves it was quiet for a while. Every now and then she looked over at Sapphire. Hank broke the silence.

"Honestly, when is this fighting ever gonna stop?" He asked with a somewhat angry voice. He was not the type to get angry over almost anything.

"Well, we'll have to at least arrange a meeting with the boy's teachers over at GC2." Mona stated calmly.

"It hasn't helped before." Ruby commented as she sunk a bit down in her chair. She lifted the spoon filled with soup and vegetables and put it in her mouth silently.

"The teachers don't know what to do, the parents don't believe their children could ever be so cruel, or the kids don't care at all. The only thing that has worked was switching schools." Sapphire stated calmly as she looked down at her bowl. She didn't seem to have a big appetite today, understandably so.

"You used to get bullied?" Mona asked and looked at her. Sapphire nodded calmly, looked over at Ruby and responded:

"Yes, but never as bad as her." Then she sighed, lifted her arm and pressed her now cold hand against Ruby's very own.

"That was just.. Awful to witness." She added, seemed to grow upset just by talking about it. Ruby put the spoon down and lifted her hand, stroked her other cheek gently as they made eye contact.

"So we're just gonna let them do it then? Is that it?" Hank asked, he now seemed a bit calmer. Ruby and Sapphire looked over at him, Ruby lowered her hand. Her other hand still had Sapphire's hand over it.

"What else is there to do?" Ruby asked. Mona lowered her head and sighed deeply.

"It's not like it's illegal." Ruby added. Mona put her hand flat on the table hard.

"Why is it that if your mother beat you up regularly it's illegal, but if your teenage bullies does it all they get are written warnings home to the parents and some marks on their behavior. WHY IS THAT!?" She yelled. Everyone else in the room stared at her wide eyes for a few moments. Sapphire sighed.

"Us teenagers are just stupid, impulsive and rash anyway right? Why take us seriously?" She said. Ruby looked at her with wide eyes, chills went up her spine. She was right. That was why it took so long for anyone to see how bad she had it at home, why she was tossed around, why all the schools she had been to treated her as someone immature and stupid. Why instead of fixing the problem at Sapphire's school, they just sent her to a new one and hoped for the best. Why when she told a teacher all he cared about was her sexual orientation. Why her mother didn't trust her own daughter to handle anything, or didn't trust any teenagers around her. Ruby sighed deeply, turned her hand around and twinned her fingers in-between Sapphire's, held her hand tightly.

"It shouldn't be like that." Hank said firmly.

"Unless you can change the social acceptance of bullying among students in the nearest future I don't think there is much any of us can do. Most don't like seeing it but they're too scared to do anything. So they accept it." Sapphire said. Ruby smiled at her, her body heated up. Sapphire was so unbelievable clever sometimes. Both Mona and Hank lit up by her words despite the topic of discussion.

"Wow Sapphire, you've really thought this through." Mona commented. Sapphire smiled weakly.

"How could I not?" She said. Then she looked down and her smile faded.

"I had to make sense of it all. And that was my conclusion. But I have no idea what to do with that realization though." She added. Then she looked over at Ruby, her smile re-appeared.

"At least we got each other." She said. Ruby smiled back at her and nodded. She felt herself blushing. Sapphire lifted her spoon and started eating her soup again. Ruby did too, without letting go of her hand resting on the table. Mona and Hank ate too, in silence. Ruby guessed there wasn't much more to say about it. But doubted Mona wouldn't try and arrange something with a teacher anyway.

"Is it OK if I don't go boxing today?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

"Sure." Hank responded. Ruby looked over at Sapphire who sighed and looked down. She probably wished her mother responded in the same way. She still held her hand. Ruby hoped it was comfort enough while they ate.

* * *

Sapphire giggled as Ruby kissed her neck hard, they were lying in Ruby's bed and the lights were on. They still had their clothes on, Sapphire lay on her back with her hands above her head. Ruby lifted her head up.

"Why are eyes round?" Ruby asked and grinned.

"Because when eyes first developed they were just holes in the organism that were sensitive to light. The holes were round, so they eyes became round as well." Sapphire replied with a grin. She blushed as she spoke.

"Wooow!" Ruby yelled out, she leaned down and kissed her hard on her neck again. She made exaggerated kissing noises, Sapphire closed her eyes and giggled. The sea of kisses only lasted for a few seconds. Then Ruby lifted her head again.

"Why is the sky blue?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Because there are raindrops in the air and when sunlight comes through it, the light becomes blue." Sapphire replied.

"Oh my god Saffy oh my god." Ruby replied jokingly and leaned down again, kissed her neck fast and hard. Sapphire closed her eyes once more and giggled hard. Her hands still rested above her head. Her heart beat fast, and butterflies flapped in her belly. Ruby leaned way again and looked down at her with a big grin. She was so cute when she got all giddy like this.

"Why is the earth round?" She asked.

"There once were lots of asteroids orbiting around the sun and then they collided and started orbiting each other, eventually merging because of gravity. But earth is actually more egg shaped than round." Sapphire replied with a weak giggle in her mouth, waiting her reward.

"Ooooh!" Ruby yelled out and leaned back down. She kissed her on the neck, Sapphire giggled even harder. This was such a silly game.

"You're so smart Saffy." Ruby said in-between many kisses. "I could listen to you all day long." She continued. Sapphire moved her arms down while still being kissed, and placed her hands against the back of Ruby's head.

"Well I could be kissed all day long, soo..." She commented. Ruby leaned back, moved herself up and faced her directly. She looked down at her with a soft gaze. Her bruises still showed. Sapphire moved her hands away from her hair and pressed them against both of her cheeks. Ruby leaned completely in and their lips met. Sapphire immediately tilted her head and opened her mouth. She let Ruby's hot slippery tongue find its way into her mouth, and massaged it with hers. Right away she recognized the weak taste of the soup they had eaten. She grinned in the kiss, stroked Ruby's cheeks and played with the tip of her tongue. She heard Ruby giggle a little bit. Then they found their rhythm again. One of Ruby's hands pressed against her boob, still covered with her white blouse. Heat grew in her body and a weak ray of worm bolts went up her spine.

"Mmmmh." Sapphire said. They kissed faster and deeper. Sapphire moved her hands against her back and stroked it. Ruby wore only a black tank-top, her beefy arms leaned over her, and her fingers stroked in her hair. Sapphire's face and body was so worm, her heart beat hard in her chest. Her groin even began to beat a little bit. Ruby's tongue was worm and soft, she could feel every movement Ruby made, and it gave her shivers. Her mind had faded, but seemed to awaken a little bit for a few moments. Abstract fractions of words she didn't yet know the meaning of soared in the back of her mind. In the front Ruby's eyes staring down at her while she was being pleased roared. It had been like her body become a large bullet wound that she could see though, and Sapphire had let her. She had seen everything, it had been so scary. But she had dared, and a door had opened. Not sexually, but emotionally. Despite all the conflicts around her, she felt an overwhelming sense of completeness. Maybe because she felt loved? Maybe because she and Ruby seemed to be perfectly in sync, despite being so different? She didn't know, and her busy mind flew all over the place. She released.

"I'm so happy we're together." She whispered tenderly.

"Me too." Ruby replied, then she leaned in again and they kissed exactly like they did before she had spoken. Then Ruby leaned out a bit, and bit gently at her lower lip, Sapphire sighed. The gesture made her groin beat a bit harder. It felt good. Sapphire moved one of her hands closer to herself and pressed two of her fingers against Ruby's lips. She looked down at them and smiled, then she opened her lips and put them over her fingers. Licked them between her beautiful slim lips. Sapphire blushed hard as she watched.

"Baby." She whispered. Ruby took her fingers out, licked them as if they were a lollypop a few times. Sapphire's groin beat harder, she leaned in and kissed her with her tongue. The both of them breathed heavily through their noses. They really made a mess with their playful tongues, but it felt so good no matter how it might have looked. Sapphire had her eyes closed, strong spikes went up her spine. Her mind faded into a hot empty smudge again. Ruby pressed herself against her, and started moving a bit forward. Sapphire grinned as their tongues still mingled and danced. She could feel Ruby's hand going up her thigh over the skirt. Her face grew really worm.

The doorbell rang 3 times. It interrupted their pleasure spree and Ruby lifted her head up. Looked at her closed bedroom door.

"It's her." Sapphire whispered. She still felt turned on but it was already fading. Fear took her instead. Ruby looked down at her again with a worried gaze, she moved her hands away from her hair and tight, and pressed them against her cheeks instead.

"Baby I'm with you." She said. It was so cute that she had started to say "baby" too. Sapphire smiled and blushed.

"I know." She replied.

"Sapphire! You're mom's here!" Mona yelled from downstairs. Ruby got herself on her legs after crawling backwards in the bed for a second. She offered Sapphire her hand and got her up with one swift arm movement. She was so strong.

Ruby began to fiddle with her hair, stroke over her blouse. She dragged her hand over her mouth perhaps to dry off spit. Sapphire grinned, did the same on Ruby. She didn't have her headband on.

"You have to talk to her for real this time." Ruby stated. Sapphire nodded.

"Tell her how you feel about her." Ruby added. Sapphire nodded again as she sighed nervously. The fear had grown big in her stomach. Ruby leaned in and gave her a few soft kisses. Then she grabbed her hand and opened the door to her bedroom. It wasn't even locked. They were expecting her, but it was still 1,5 hours left until her singing lesson started.

Sapphire held her breath for a few moments while she walked down the stairs. Ruby let go of her hand behind her, and Sapphire stepped into the longer hallway. Nina stood in the smaller hallway still with her shoes and jacket on. It was dark brown. The door between the rooms was open.

"Sapphire? What is happening here?" Nina asked, strangely enough she wasn't angry at all.

"Mom, we need to talk." Sapphire responded. Ruby stood beside her.

"Come on in, you can talk in the kitchen." She said firmly. Nina nodded and turned around as she took off her jacket. Ruby leaned in on Sapphire and hugged her cheek gently while she whispered:

"Do you want me to come with you?" Then she leaned back, Sapphire looked at her while Nina took off her shoes.

"No I.. I think it should be just me and her." She whispered in return. Ruby nodded.

"Alright, but I'm gonna wait in the living room if you need me." She responded a bit louder. Nina turned to them again and walked inside the longer hallway.

"Good luck." Ruby whispered, then she walked off and sat herself on the coach beside Hank and Mona. Sapphire sighed deeply, walked into the kitchen and stared at her mother as she followed suit and closed the door behind her. Sapphire closed the other kitchen door and they both sat down against the dinner table.

Nina's light blue eyes were wide open and focused. Her long dark hair was up in a loose ponytail. She didn't seem mad, but she wasn't happy either. Honestly she was hard to read, it made everything all the more scary.

"I don't even know where to begin." Said Sapphire gently. She looked away. "I don't trust you. I want to talk to you, but at the same time I don't, because you kinda scare me." She said further. Nina sighed silently and looked down.

"Maybe I should start instead." She said, then she looked up at Sapphire again. Her eyebrows tightened, it was clear she felt sad about this. That was comforting.

"You feel that I'm controlling you?" She asked, Sapphire nodded in silence. Nina sighed again, this time a loud one.

"That wasn't my intention. It's just.. " She said. Then she lowered her head.

"Your grandma was not an easy person to grow up with. She didn't care what I did, and so I did everything I could to get her attention. That's how I got into drugs in the first place, and I had so many horrible experiences with people and partying and she just let me destroy myself in it. Your real father was just like me, and you.." She said, then she sighed again. She lifted her head and stared at her with glossy eyes. "You might be a ticking bomb Sapphire, you might become like me. I can't let that happen. I had to show you that your actions had real consequences, but I might have come on too strong." Sapphire sat back and crossed her arms.

"So you don't want me to have friends now? Because I might start to go to parties and get into alcohol and drugs?" She asked. A pressure came underneath her eyes and nose.

"Do you know me at all?" She asked further.

"I know, it doesn't sound like you. But that doesn't mean it can't happen, that's the whole point. It happens with teenagers all the time. They rebel and go completely overboard." Nina stated.

"You tell me how to act, tell me how to dress, tell me who I can and can't be with and you don't trust me at all. You worrying about me rebelling is not the problem here. You locked me up for 3 months, and now you use it against me all the time, and it makes me scared." Sapphire said as she looked away. Her sight began to get blurry. So much was at stake here.

"I'm not your perfect daughter mom. If I don't meet your standards or values you'll despise me." She said further with a lump in her throat.

"I won't despise you Sapphire. You're my daughter, I love you unconditionally." Nina said as she put her hands on the table and moved them closer to Sapphire, who put her own hands in front of her face.

"I don't believe you." She said while she sobbed weakly. She heard her mother step off the chair and she crawled on her knees in front of Sapphire. Put her long slim hands on her arms near her elbows.

"I really do Sapphire, I do love you. No matter what." She said. Sapphire removed her hands and looked down at her. Nina's eyes were glossy and tears ran down her cheeks. It had been years since she had seen her mother cry. She was usually so well put together.

"Maybe you mean what you say right now, but you won't in the future, I know it." Said Sapphire with a shaky voice.

"How could you say that?" Nina asked. She looked terrified. Sapphire opened her eyes wide, anger flew in her.

"How could YOU say that homosexuals are bad people!? How could you indirectly say that if me and Ruby slept in the same bed that she would rape me?" Those last words made her sob, and she put her head in her hands again.

"What?" Nina whispered.

"Ruby got beat up mom! Just because she's a lesbian, and boys in my class they say so many bad things to me 'cause I'm seen with her. And you're no better! But she's not bad, she's good. I'm good!" She continued as she sobbed louder.

"Oh Sapphire." Nina said softly. She was still crying.

"And I tried to tell a teacher but he said some really creepy things." She said further. She pressed her hands hard against her eyes.

"You're gonna hate me." She said as she sobbed loudly.

"Why? Sapphire, why do you think I'm gonna hate you?" Nina asked calmly. Sapphire removed her hands, looked down at her with teary eyes.

"I can't tell you." She whispered. "I don't trust you." Nina closed her eyes as she started to sob weakly.

"Oh my god, Sapphire, had I known I hurt you so much I would never have done any of it. I thought I was doing the right thing. I'm so sorry. I'll get better I promise." She said as she lowered her head. She grabbed Sapphire's hands and held them hard, lifted her head and made eye contact with her again. Her eyes were focused and stern.

"I'll make sure you trust me again. I promise. And I love you no matter what." She siad, her words were soft spoken.

"No more bad talk about Ruby or any of our friends." Said Sapphire as she sniffed.

"No more." Nina responded.

"I don't need to tell you everywhere I go. And Ruby is welcome in our home anytime." Sapphire continued.

"Yes of course." Nina responded again.

"I can wear whatever I want, and we would have to go shopping because I don't want to wear those stupid skirts and blouses anymore." Sapphire added.

"You can pick whatever you want. As long as it isn't too expensive." Nina said.

"Just for today, I want to stay here until you would normally pick me up." Sapphire continued. Nina sighed.

"Fine, just for today you can skip it." She responded. Sapphire gave off a tiny smile as she sighed deeply.

"Good." She said. Nina moved herself up and hugged her tightly. Sapphire couldn't remember the last time she got a hug like this from her. She closed her eyes and sniffed.

"I love you sweetie." Nina said. Sapphire opened her eyes in the embrace and stared at the counters in the kitchen. A tiny floating speck of dust caught her eye, floating all alone. Nina released and looked at her for a few seconds, deep in thought. Perhaps she waited for a response. Sapphire remained silent.

"I'm sorry for everything Sapphire. I promise I'll be a better mother for you from now on." She stated softly. Sapphire raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah well, only time will tell." She responded. She could see that the statement hurt her mother a great deal. But it was the truth, she didn't fully believe her, but she hoped for the better. Sapphire got up, and so did Nina. Sapphire moved to the door going into the living room, she opened it and spoke loudly:

"Ruby? Come." She said. It only took a second before Ruby stood in front of her, she looked worried.

"Is everything alright?" She asked. She was so sweet. Sapphire smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I told her about most of it. But not everything." She responded. Ruby nodded. Sapphire turned towards her mother in the doorway.

"But you actually haven't properly introduced yourself to my mom." She said further.

"Yes, right." Ruby spoke firmly. She stepped forward and reached out with her hand. Nina grabbed it, she still looked upset but seemed to have gotten herself together again.

"Hi, as you know I'm Ruby." She said as they shock hands. Nina nodded.

"Yes, hello, as you know I'm Nina." She responded with a weak smile. Sapphire stared as their hands parted and they both stood a meter away from each other. They looked at one another awkwardly for a few seconds.

"Let's sit." Sapphire said fast. They both looked at her as she spoke, then they nodded. Ruby found a chair beside Sapphire and sat down. She leaned back and spread her legs a bit. Sapphire sat down beside her and crossed her legs. Nina sat down too, and did exactly the same as Sapphire did.

"Sapphire mentioned that you got beat up today." Nina stated. Sapphire lowered her head and sighed. She already regretted the suggestion for them to sit. Ruby looked at her and smiled weakly. Then she stared at Nina.

"Yes, first at my school, GC2, and then I went to her school and some old enemies got me there too." Ruby answered calmly. She didn't seem angry at all, Sapphire smiled at her.

"Sapphire actually stood up for me, and jumped right in the way." Ruby continued, she made eye contact with Sapphire and smiled. Her gaze alone felt like a loving gesture. Sapphire heated up a little bit inside.

"Is that so?" Nina responded, she looked at Sapphire and smiled broadly.

"Yes, she's really brave. And a very good friend." Ruby added. Sapphire felt her cheeks prickling.

"I know you two have some issues to work through but.. She's a wonderful person, so you must have done something right." She continued with a clam facial expression. Sapphire grinned as she spoke, and when she finished Sapphire looked over at her mother. She opened her eyes wide for a second and smiled, then she sighed and looked down. Sapphire looked over at Ruby again. She knew Ruby had a good understanding of feelings, and great empathy. But her choice of words showed that there was much more going on underneath the surface than she had ever thought possible. Sapphire smiled and looked down, she felt her face heat up. Don't blush don't blush don't blush, she thought.

"Thank you." Nina responded. "But I shouldn't take credit for what she is like, that's her own doing." She added.

"If you say so." Ruby replied. Sapphire looked up at her mom, she smiled.

"Maybe you should go now." She said. Nina stood up from her chair.

"Yes I better get going." Sapphire and Ruby got up too. Nina looked at Ruby and nodded.

"You're welcome to our home any time." She said. Ruby nodded back.

"I appreciate that, thanks." She responded. They walked out of the kitchen together and Sapphire leaned against the doorway to the smaller hallway as Nina got dressed.

"Me or your dad will pick you up at 11 o'clock." Nina said.

"OK." Sapphire responded. When Nina had finished dressing herself she stopped for a moment. Ruby stood behind Sapphire, but didn't touch her. Sapphire felt her body itching for her to be closer.

Nina looked at her and sighed, she let her arms fall against her sides.

"I'm sorry." She said gently. Sapphire pushed her lips together for a moment.

"Bye mom." She said.

"Bye." Nina responded. Then she walked out of the main door and it was slammed gently shut. The moment it did, she felt Ruby's arms wrap around her upper body from behind. Her breasts and belly pressed against her back, and her chin gently moved onto her shoulder. Sapphire sighed deeply with relief.

"I heard you crying." Ruby whispered in her ear.

"Yeah.." Sapphire said. "It was pretty difficult." She moved out of Ruby's grip and turned herself around. She faced her, Ruby lifted her hand and stroked the hair close to her ear. Her gaze was sad but loving, she smiled.

"I'm so proud of you." She said. Sapphire smiled as her face tightened, she could feel herself tearing up.

"Thank you." She said. Then she leaned in and kissed Ruby hard on the lips. She could already tell that some of the pressure she have had on her shoulders for so long were fading. She smiled in the kiss as the tears in her eyes dried up. Hopefully their talk would change something, but at least she got Ruby. Then, she felt, everything would be OK.


	11. Chapter 11

Warning, adult content: Sex. Trogger warning: Homophobia.

* * *

Sapphire had been standing in one of the single bathrooms at the school for at least ten minutes. The first class of the day was starting really soon, but she couldn't bring herself to stop staring at herself in the mirror. She had the tap on at a comfortably sounding pressure, as if it was raining, almost. She hyperventilated silently while she stared herself in the eyes and whispered to herself:

"Ok, ooookay, alright, OK." The tension in her body was there, but for now it didn't beam up her spine or make her hands restless. She didn't know what she was meeting, what others knew, how Fredrik and those two others from her class would behave towards her. She almost felt like tearing up for a moment, but she pulled herself together before it ever truly began.

Today she had her hair in a long thick braid going down her back, and the bangs over her one ye of course. She wore a black tanktop she usually wore underneath her blouses, and a thin dark blue jacket with silver buttons she had borrowed from Nina, since she didn't really have much herself yet. The jacket was open, and showed her breasts and cleavage. She knew it might give her some negative or sexual attention, but now she was free. And this is what she felt like wearing. And of course, a pair of neat light blue pants. Her lower belly hurt a little bit, on the side. She guessed she would get her period soon.

On her face she had made two thin lines over her eyelashes with dip liner, and a thin coat of that pink brown-ish lipstick. The last time she wore pants, braids and that lipstick she recalled, Ruby couldn't take her hands off her. The thought soothed her a little bit, and she sighed deeply has the hyperventilation stopped. For once she didn't wish for Ruby to be here with her, because if she was surely she would get beat up again. That had to be avoided at all costs, from now on.

She turned off the tap, made sure her hair was alright and grabbed her backpack she had placed carefully on the floor, against the bathroom door. She unlocked it, entered a small hallway on the other side of a small group room. She turned her head to the left, stared at a blue door. Another one just like it was on the other side, going into the room she had met Peridot in.

As she walked towards the classroom she sighed again, made herself ready. This was going to be tough, she thought. If she got through the day, the week would be over. She would see Ruby again, and possibly even get to sleep over in the few following days. The thought made her smile, she mustered up the courage to open the door, and then she walked inside.

She entered the white walled classroom with blue curtains, lockers and removable walls in the back. The desks were of a light wooden color. Camilla and her friends stared at her as she found her empty seat beside Artur. He stared at her too, but his gaze was not of the judgmental kind. She sat down quietly and looked down at her empty desk.

"Hey.." Artur whispered. Sapphire looked over at him. "Did Andreas and lots of other guys really beat the living crap out of Ruby yesterday?" He asked in a low tone. Sapphire's eyebrows tightened, she nodded weakly. Artur sighed, seemed somewhat distressed by her answer. Then his face lit up a little bit.

"Is it true that you defended her?" He asked further. A shy smile was painted over her lips and she nodded again. Artur smiled.

"They've been talking about me haven't they?" Sapphire asked as her smile faded. He nodded.

"What did they say?" She added. Artur looked down, his face grew somewhat stiff. He shook his head a little bit.

"I don't think you want to know." He replied.

"Oi Sapphire!?" Andreas yelled from the other side of the classroom. Both Artur and Sapphire turned their attention to him. Sapphire's eyebrows grew tighter again, this time with a drop of anger in her mouth.

"Have you been dressing up for me? You shouldn't have.." He commented with a soft playful tone. Sapphire looked away and didn't respond. Camilla and the girls giggled a bit. The tension within her grew stronger. Andreas walked across the room and leaned over her desk, she still looked away.

"Oh come on." He said. "That was a compliment." He whined. Then he bent his knees and pressed his fingers and chin against her desk. They made eye-contact. A light pressure grew underneath her eyes and nose. And a few weak cold beams went up her spine.

"What? You're still mad at me for defending myself against your crazy girlfriend?" He asked softly.

"You're so messed up." Artur blurred out while he looked at Andreas. He looked over at the tiny boy and narrowed his eyes.

"Shut up, little girl." He said. Anger began to grow within her as she watched him speak. He looked over at her again and smirked.

"You used to be so quiet and proper and cute. Now you're eeeeedgy. Licking pussyyy." He stated excitedly. She held herself together while she stared at him.

"Shut up Andreas." Artur said.

"She knows how tight you are, doesn't she?" He whispered. Artur gasped, she started blushing as shame struck her, and the moment she felt her eyes begin to water she stood up quickly and whispered:

"I can't do this." Andreas had a smirk on his face still, she rushed off while she heard Artur saying her name only once. She slammed the classroom door behind her. Immediately she started hyperventilating as beams of fear went up her spine and reached her skull, shock her to the core. She walked over to the bathroom she had stayed in, remembered she hadn't brought her cellphone, and stayed put for a moment.

Artur came rushing out of their classroom. He was a head shorter than her, his blond hair stuck out everywhere. It still reminded her of Ola's. It was something comforting about that. He wore a dark green hooded sweater and black pants.

"Sapphire? Are you OK?" He asked in a hurry.

"No." She replied as she looked away.

"What he said was really messed up." He said further.

"You should have heard what he told Ruby yesterday." She responded. He placed himself in front of her and made eye-contact with her. It only lasted for a second before she stepped back and looked away.

"You have to tell a teacher." He said.

"No." She responded. "I tried that, it only made everything worse."

"Well, tell your parents." He suggested. She shook her head gently. Fear still struck her. She closed her fists.

"I'm not fully out yet." She said.

"Out?" He asked with wide eyes. He bent his head slightly forward. "You mean out of the closet?" Sapphire nodded. He put his hand in front of his eyes and sighed. Sapphire made her body heavy where she stood and whined:

"I left my backpack inside.." She said while she looked up for a moment.

"So you're just gonna ditch school?" He asked with a somewhat angry tone. She didn't respond.

"You can't just give up. You can't let him win." He said further.

"I just wanna go find Ruby." She mumbled as she turned her head towards the wall. She felt herself tearing up again. Her fear had decreased a little bit though.

"Sure you do, but you still have to go to school on Monday. Ruby sure can't fix that." Artur said as he crossed his arms. Sapphire turned towards him again and stared him in the eyes. His face was stern, and it truly became clear for her that it wasn't an overgrown Ola who stood before her. But a teenager just like her. She felt somewhat attacked, she had never been challenged like this by someone she barely knew before. She knew what he was trying to make her do, and she didn't like it one bit.

"You don't know how hard it is for me." She stated in a somewhat angry but still calm manner.

"If it's so hard then why aren't you trying to change it?" He asked, still with the same expression over his soft face. She put her hand on her chest, spoke up.

"I am not in the position of power here. I can't change things." She said.

"So then you're just gonna let it happen then? Give up and take it all, just like that?" He said.

"What else is there to do?" She asked as she put her hand down.

"Talk to a teacher?" He suggested calmly. Sapphire looked away again.

"You have too much faith in the system." She said.

"And you have to little." Artur responded. She held her breath.

"Well.. You. " She said, then she whined and crossed her arms, looked away. She felt like a child again, being outsmarted by a parent. She knew he was right.

The door opened from the other side of the small hallway, and Karen with a laptop and a few books in her hand entered her filed of sight. She and Artur immediately looked at each other, he had a determined facial expression. Sapphire's eyes widened, a cold spark traveled up her spine.

"No." She whispered. Artur gave off a smug smile for a moment, before he turned his head, opened his mouth and shouted:

"Hey Karen! Sapphire really needs to talk to you, right now." Karen stopped in her tracks, looked up at them with a somewhat worried gaze and said:

"What's going on?" She asked. Then she walked over to the group room right beside Sapphire and Artur, and locked it up with a full keychain that she dragged out of the pocket of her pants.

"We have to make it quick." She said. Sapphire sighed, stared angrily at Artur, who smiled somewhat deviously back at her. Then he shrugged, and turned around.

"You can thank me later." He said. Karen walked in and as Sapphire did so too, she smiled for a moment.

Karen had long brown hair put into a thin braid in the back of her head. She had brown eyes with a tint of green in them, and two soft smiling wrinkles on both sides of her slim lips. Her eyes were big, intense but actually quite worm. She wore a mustard yellow knitted sweater and slick black pants. She put all her things down on an empty desk in the corner of the room. Then she pulled out two bright red plastic chairs that were stacked on top of each other. Sapphire sat down carefully, sighed deeply as Karen pretty much fell down in her chair and crossed her legs tightly, as if she tried to knot them together.

"So what's going on?" She asked with a high pitched yet soft voice.

"I.. Um." Sapphire responded as she looked down. She lifted her shoulders and held them there in a tense position.

"This of this as a band aid, pull it off quickly and it will hurt less. Just tell me and get it over with." Karen suggested monotonously. Sapphire lowered her shoulders again, looked up at her.

"You see.. I.. Uh." She sighed again, slowly and deeply. Then she closed her eyes and said:

"After I came out as a lesbian a few boys in my class, but Andreas especially has harassed me. Asking me about sex and having opinions about my relationships. And he also snapped open my bra strap over my blouse not so long ago, and slapped me on the butt. Then I told a teacher, you weren't there that day so I told Helge. And he became all creepy and weird, he said things like: I didn't know a nice girl like you was like that, or that I was pretty. It freaked me out. But he did talk to Andreas at least, but then it got worse. You see, I'm with Ruby, she used to go here, I am sure you know who she is." Sapphire blurred out, she opened her eyes and saw Karen nod gently with her eyes wide open.

"Anyway, yesterday because I got Andreas in trouble and because she has stolen me from him..? He and four other guys approached me and her after school when she came to meet me here. And they said some really bad things." Sapphire continued. She felt herself tearing up a bit, yesterday's events still rang in her head, and had made it hard for het to sleep. That among other things.

"They said that Ruby ruined me and that it was her fault, and then they said that she was ugly and stupid and that us together was disgusting and…" She said, she lowered her head. Felt the tears coming for real this time.

"Then he asked her if we had sex, and if.. I was tight.. That really threw her off and she tried to hit him. Then all the others started beating her up and I had to jump in front of them all to make them stop. And just now, today, everyone has been talking about it. And Andreas has been giving me ill meant complements and he said I was edgy now and that I.. Lick pussy.. And then he said that she.." Sapphire put her hand over her face as tears ran from her eyes. She continued still.

"He said that Ruby probably knew how tight I was, and I just.. I couldn't take it anymore and I was beginning to get a panic attack again so I walked away from there. Artur sat beside me the whole time and told Andreas off, and he came after me just now in the hallway. He said I should talk to a teacher but I don't wanna do that because of how Helge reacted. And also because I'm not out to my mom yet and she's really homophobic and I don't want her to know from a teacher." She finally finished speaking, she sighed deeply. Sniffed and removed her hand from her face. Karen still sat with a serious face and wide eyes, then she looked down and spoke softly while her gaze flustered.

"Well, that's a lot at once." She commented. Sapphire nodded.

"You've never talked so openly before. Usually both of your parents have to be here for you to say anything remotely personal about yourself." Karen added. Sapphire smiled, sniffed again and dried off a few tears with her fingertips.

"Yeah, um, Ruby is really outspoken. I guess that has rubbed off on me. At least when I really need it to." She responded. Karen nodded and smiled.

"That's great." She said, then her smile faded and she sighed.

"Firstly, I will arrange a meeting with Helge. I take everything you said about him seriously. Second, I will arrange a meeting with all the students involved. You don't have to be there if you don't want to, and neither of your parents has to either. Just give me their names." Karen spoke with a stern face.

"Oh umm, Andreas, Tobias and Marcus. And two more I don't know the name of, from grade 10. But I think Ruby knows who they are." Sapphire replied.

"That's OK. Just text her or something, and give me their names by the end of today." Karen responded. Sapphire nodded and smiled. Her tears had become nothing but a bad memory.

"I will. Thanks." Said Sapphire.

"Oh please Sapphire, this is my job. And helping students is why I get up in the morning." Karen said while she sat herself up and smiled. Sapphire did the same. They stopped and stared at each other, Karen was a head taller than her.

"I promise I will do everything I can to make school easier for you." She said.

"I hope you will." Sapphire responded as she opened the door and walked out of the small group room. They entered the small hallway.

"If you want to you can sit inside the group room and I can give you assignments." Karen suggested.

"No, I think I'll be OK." Sapphire answered as she looked down and smiled.

"Alright then." She said, then she walked in first. Sapphire followed suit, and while Karen greeted the students she sat down beside Artur, leaned a bit towards him and whispered:

"Thank you." He looked at her, smiled and replied:

"You're welcome."

* * *

Ruby walked down the path from GC2 to Garden City school. Some students were behind her and in front of her, but they quickly turned into a different road, going in a different direction. She used to walk there too, every day. The streets were slushy, last night it had rained and all the soft dry snow had gotten mixed with ice cold water. The weather was mild, and she didn't even need a scarf. But her knitted hat and thinner red winter jacket she wore, but they were beginning to make her a tad bit too worm.

Ruby sighed. Alexander and a few of his friends along with Marlene and the girls had teased her because of her bruises today. It was nothing new, and they had done it many times before. She thought about it, pondered as her feet sloped through the wet snow. For some reason now, when people were mean to her it seemed so much worse. Ruby looked up at the sky, it was dark blue. It was only 2 o'clock. Maybe it's because of Sapphire? She asked herself. Now that she had a contrast, had something to compare it too, it seemed more unreal?

She sighed as she thought of the countless times people had told her to die, and she had just taken it. Gulped it in as if it was her only truth. It wasn't until Sapphire that she had actually understood how messed up it is to tell a person something like that. A faint blush grew in her cheeks, ah Sapphire. She thought. She helps me in ways I would never have thought possible.

She had called during recess and told her about how her day was going and asked for two names. Artur she had said; forced her to talk to a teacher that wasn't a creep. It had relieved Ruby a great deal.

She reached the corner of Garden City school that always made her heart jump with joy. When she passed it she saw Sapphire sitting by the empty wall with Artur. They seemed to be talking, the bus stop by the road was empty. She sighed with relief.

She walked towards her, Sapphire looked up, she waved and Sapphire waved back and got up. They walked towards one another, Ruby's footprints made a straight line across the parking lot, among hundreds of other lines, thousands of other people's footprints. She seemed so insignificant among them, but Sapphire came towards her with a big smile. And she felt that the traces she made were more important, at least in these moments.

Sapphire immediately pressed her lips against hers, Ruby smiled as she closed her eyes. The gesture wormed her from within, they soon released and she looking into her big beautiful eye. She wore more make-up around her eyes than usual, and that pretty lipstick of hers. Sapphire grinned, put her thumb up and stroked them against her lips. Apparently some of it had rubbed off on her. She smiled and blushed.

"Well aren't you pretty today." She said. Sapphire placed her hand on her cheek and grinned, her face lit up. Butterflies came in Ruby's stomach. From the moment she had been left alone late yesterday evening, all she had thought about was when they would meet again.

"Thank you, so are you." Sapphire replied. Ruby put her hands up and pulled at her coat near the waist, Sapphire lowered her hand and they embraced tightly. Ruby pressed her face into her hair and scarf. She sighed while she closed her eyes. After a few seconds they released, Ruby opened her eyes again and made eye-fontact with little Artur. He stood behind Sapphire, two meters or so away.

"Hello." He said with his thin voice.

"Hi." Ruby replied with a smile. She put her hand out for him to grab, and he did. As they shock hands she nodded and said:

"Thank you so much for helping her today." Then she looked over at Sapphire as her smile faded for a moment.

".. Even if she didn't want you to." She continued. Sapphire looked down, perhaps a bit ashamed. Ruby had learned a lot about Sapphire already, and one thing she knew is that she was stubborn, she wondered what Artur had done to change her mind about a failed system they all knew the status of.

"It was nothing." He said as he let go of her hand.

"I'm glad she has someone like you in that hellhole of a classroom." Ruby added. Artur grinned from ear to ear.

"Yes." He said. Sapphire grabbed her hand and tugged at it gently. They looked at each other.

"Well, see you around then, Artur." Ruby continued. "Bye." She waved, he waved back.

"Yeah bye." He said. Ruby and Sapphire turned around and started to walk away from the school, across the parking lot. Sapphire twinned her fingers into hers; Ruby looked at her and smiled.

"Have you had a good day?" Sapphire asked. Her smile faded, she looked straight forward, then down.

"No. Some idiots in my class were teasing me over my bruises. And I've been kinda lonely." She replied. Then she turned to Sapphire and smiled. She had a sad facial expression.

"But I always feel lonely when you're not around." Ruby added. Sapphire smiled, Ruby leaned in while they walked and pecked her a few times on the cheek. When she moved back she could tell that Sapphire was blushing slightly.

"Me too." She said. Ruby grinned.

"Now tell me, what did Artur say to you to make you change your mind?" She asked. Sapphire closed her eyes for a moment and smiled.

"That boy, let me tell you, he's even more stubborn than me." She said. Ruby started jumping around, still holding onto her hand. She over reacted completely as she yelled out not too loudly:

"How is that even possible? Oh my goooood." Sapphire giggled, it made her grin proudly. Sapphire's laughter faded, and she continued:

"So here is what he said.."

* * *

Sapphire was lying naked in Ruby's bed. Her grin was broad, her expression she was sure exposed her excitement. Ruby lay on top of her with her beautiful dark body, this time she had remembered to take her headband off. And her tight curly bangs covered her eyebrows. Sapphire tried to push it out of the way, Ruby began to giggle.

"Now you know my struggle." She said, then she lifted her hand and removed Sapphire's bangs in return. Sapphire blushed as she began to laugh out loud. The lights were on, and once again she was going to see everything. She couldn't wait.

"Oh Ruby." She said as her laughter faded into a comfortable place within her chest. Ruby moved herself even closer, her soft skin brushed against her own. Ruby smiled, leaned completely in and pressed their lips together. As they started dragging them over one another, Sapphire bent her knees and locked her feet behind her waist. Butterflies swarmed her stomach already, and her heart beat fast. Ruby's tongue found its way into her mouth and their precious rhythm took place. They closed their lips together as they pulled their tongues in, then they opened their mouths and their tongues met again. When they pulled their tongues in once more, the tip of Ruby's tongue moved more rapidly against her own tongue's tip. Sapphire giggled weakly for a few seconds, Ruby's tongue moved into her mouth again and hot bolts went up her spine. Ruby released, she smiled with a soft gaze. Sapphire moved her hand up against her face and stroked it, her cheek was really worm. But it didn't surprise her. Ruby didn't say anything, she just stared at her. Sapphire moved her hand away from her face and up against her hair, stroked the back of her head with her fingers. Ruby closed her eyes and sighed, seemed to enjoy it a lot. Sapphire felt her cheeks growing even wormer. She stared intently at her face while she moved her hand forward again. She had her fingertips gently move down her face, her index finger stroked against her perfect slim nose. Then her hand moved to her left cheek and stroked it a few times. Ruby opened her eyes carefully and stared at her. Sapphire's fingertips brushed against her slim soft lips, she smiled. Opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. It brushed against her index finger for a few moments, Sapphire's groin began to beat slightly. A weak worm bolt went up her spine, she sighed deeply.

"You're so beautiful baby." She said. Ruby put her tongue inside her mouth again and smiled with her teeth, she was blushing. It could just barely be shown with her dark skin. She leaned in on her again and just before their lips met, she whispered:

"You too Saffy." Their mouths opened right away, Sapphire tilted her head, their tongues danced again. Her groin beat a bit harder, and weak hot tinges came from it. She began to move her torso slightly, and before she knew it the both of them were rubbing themselves against one another. Sapphire's fingers spread against her back, her feet unlocked. As their slippery tongues massaged each other her mind faded into somewhere safe and worm. Ruby released and kissed her neck. Sapphire had her eyes closed, she moaned weakly as Ruby moved against her. The tingles grew more intense, but were still really weak. Ruby's lips and tongue made soft patterns on the side of her neck, she lifted her head up.

"Baby you can move all the way down." She said softly. Blood beat through her veins in a higher speed. Ruby's tongue made a slowly moving trail from her neck and down to one of her nipples. She looked down at Ruby as her soft lips and wet tongue nibbled gently at it. She saw her nose, some of her lip movements and her hair sticking out everywhere. And her shoulders and beefy upper arms holding around her, her elbows and lower arms and hands rested on the sheets on her sides. Sapphire looked at her arms, reached out and touched one of them with her hand. Ruby moved her face up and looked at her for a moment, assumingly as a direct reaction to her touch. She smiled as she had the tip of her tongue against her nipple, then she moved her face down again and continued. Sapphire moved her head back again as Ruby moved to the other nipple. Weak beams of light pleasure branched out from her groin. She could feel herself getting wet. She imagined what was about to happen, the very thought gave her another nice little beam. Her sensitive nipple was moved in-between Ruby's teeth. Her tongue moved gently against it still when she bit her teeth together with just the right pressure. Sapphire moaned gently.

Then Ruby moved her lips away from her boobs and kissed her way down her lower chest and skinny belly. Her kisses were soft, and they always had a weak lick from the tip of her tongue inside them. Sapphire got chills all over her body, she was so excited. She grinned and looked down as she felt Ruby kiss the very top of her clean shaven groin, and then she stopped. She moved her head back and stared at her vagina. Her eyes were soft, she breathed somewhat loudly through her nose. One of her fingers touched gently against it and parted her moist vaginal lips. Sapphire moved her head back and stared at the sealing as her face grew really worm. She lifted her arm and bent it over her face. Ruby giggled weakly from down there.

"You're so cute when you're shy, Saffy." She said softly. Sapphire felt her face grow even wormer, she smiled still with her arm over her eyes. Ruby's soft lips pressed against her lower ones, hot bolts went up her spine and she sighed deeply. Ruby's arms bent around her tights and her hands were placed exactly where her legs stuck out of her body. They stroked gently against her skin while her lips and tongue kissed and licked her vaginal lips and close to her opening. It felt good, but not as good as she wanted it to. She seemed to be moving aimlessly way too far down. Sapphire moved her arm away, looked down at her and said:

"Baby you gotta go further up.." She said, but Ruby interrupted her by saying:

"Ssssshhh." Sapphire stopped talking, looked down at her. Ruby's gaze moved up and their eyes locked. Only the top of her nose bridge and her eyes showed, her mouth was pressed against her vagina. Her lips had moved against it when she spoke. Her eyes were calm but playful. It was a loving gaze, and it alone made her body heat up so much.

"I'm exploring." Ruby said further. For a moment Sapphire stared down at her in surprise. She was doing this on purpose? She thought, then she sighed and her hot breath made her body heat up even more. She was sure her face was bright pink by now. Ruby giggled again.

"Cutie." She said. Then she moved her lips up against her clitoris and opened her mouth, licked against it gently. Hot tingles came from it, Sapphire moved her head back while Ruby still locked at her. Sapphire gave off a silent moan as she sighed deeply. Ruby licked against it a few times, then she closed her mouth and rubbed her lips against it a bit too hard. It felt wonderful. Her clitoris must be swollen and visible already, underneath the fold of skin right where her vaginal lips split up. The hot tingles grew more intense rather fast, and she moved her hands down and pressed them gently against Ruby's afro hair as she moaned quick weak moans. They made eye-contact again, it seemed that Ruby had been staring at her this whole time.

"That's so good." Sapphire said. She moved her head back and gently rubbed the back of her head against the pillow as another hot delightful beam came from her groin. She moaned a slower louder moan. After she licked her lips, panted. Ruby's lip movements grew faster and slightly harder. It felt even better. A new wave of worm sensations came, and she closed her eyes and moaned. She was happy to have guessed right, Ruby was also good with her mouth. She had never done these things before.

"How do you even know what to do?" She whined as she moaned. Ruby stopped and seemed to try to answer, but Sapphire pressed her head down against her groin again.

"No no don't answer, don't stop." Sapphire said further. A weak giggle came from down there, then her wonderful lip movements continued like before. Sapphire moaned again as another wave came, they grew stronger and stronger. She panted hard, Ruby's movements grew quicker, she moved her chin higher up and her face tightened. Another wave came, and it didn't stop. The hot tingles grew stronger, she opened her mouth and moaned harder. Her torso moved a little bit seemingly all by itself; her tights began to shake slightly. The sensations grew intense and worm spasms of pleasure pulsated in her entire lower body. Her vagina she felt, contracted a few times. She moaned loudly, could hear Ruby moan weakly as well. For a few moments it grew really intense and her entire body tightened. She pressed Ruby's head down. Her own mouth opened wide. Then it quickly faded and she moved her hands away from Ruby's lovely curls. She was out of breath when she looked down and still saw her head between her legs. She grinned and blushed. Ruby looked up, let her tongue do a slow final lick from the bottom of her vagina to the top. Sapphire sighed and grinned, Ruby moved her chin up and leaned her cheek against her thigh. Her mouth was smeared with transparent fluids, she smiled with her teeth. Her gaze was once again calm and loving.

"This is my new favorite place." She said. Sapphire giggled, moved her hand down as she still felt some of the pleasure linger within her. She still breathed heavily when she moved her hand against her cheek and stroked it. Then she moved it across Ruby's mouth and dried off the fluids.

"You're so beautiful and sexy." Ruby added softly. Sapphire still had worm cheeks, they probably couldn't get wormer at this point. She smiled.

"Thank you baby, come here." She responded, after she pouted her lips. Ruby immediately moved up and covered her with her worm beautiful body. Their lips met hard. Sapphire's hands stroked over her shoulder blades. Their mouths opened and their tongues danced. Ruby moved her hand down to her groin and Sapphire moved her torso a bit. Made it easier for her to reach. Two of her wonderful fingers pressed themselves all the way in and bent upwards against the inside of her vagina. Right at where they had been yesterday. Ruby sure was a fast learner. They released.

"By the way, I know what to do because you told me where it feels best for you." Ruby spoke softly with a smile. Sapphire grinned and looked up at her.

"You're amazing." She responded. She felt Ruby's fingers move inside of her. It already felt really good. She moaned weakly and sighed, moved one of her hands forward and stroked Ruby's cheek. It was so worm and soft. Just like the rest of her. Ruby moved her head down again and pressed their lips gently together. Sapphire moved her torso as the hot tingles instead came from within. They felt different, but still very similar. Their tongues, body movements and Ruby's fingers found their rhythm, just like yesterday. But this time the tone was different. Nobody had been crying, nobody was upset or beat up. Sure their days had been rough, but yesterday was really something else. Today it was all over, and their intense journey had taken anew. Sapphire smiled in their deep kiss, what happened turned into a blur. All that remained were Ruby's finger and lip movements. Everything was warm, moist and wonderful.

She had closed her eyes, sighed, panted and occasionally moaned into Ruby's hot wet mouth. All her worries faded, all the fear became gone. The hot tingly sensations grew stronger from within her. Ruby released, Sapphire still had her eyes closed. She had really began to sweat. Ruby was after all covering half of her body, and she was really worm. She could feel a few of Ruby's fingers move her bangs away. She opened her mouth and moaned many quick somewhat loud moans. Ruby's fingertips made their way into her lips, but not entirely into her mouth. She put her tongue out and licked them as they brushed against the edges of her front teeth. She opened her eyes as intense tingles shot through her body. She moaned, Ruby looked down at her. Her eyelids looked heavy but her expression was that of joy. She panted with her lips just barely apart.

"Baby." Sapphire mumbled still with two gentle fingertips in her mouth. She moved her tongue, closed her eyes and a hot delightful spasm came from her inside. She moaned hard, could hear Ruby moan weakly too. Her fingers moved out of her mouth and stroked over her wet lips. Ruby's lips pressed themselves against her cheek, Sapphire's hand moved away from her face and back against her shoulder blades. The tips of her fingers pressed against her soft skin. She could feel sweat emerge from her forehead and belly. The beams grew more intense again, even more so than when she had gone down on her. She moaned louder, they seemed to be lasting, and the spasms came. Her belly and thighs began to tremble, her vagina contracted around Ruby's strong fast moving fingers. Ruby's lips and tongue licked against her cheek, moved back to her lower jaw close to her neck. The hot tingles grew really intense; she moved her head back and opened her mouth wide. She moaned one really loud high pitch moan, just like yesterday. She forgot everything, even who she was. Her fingernails bore into her skin and dragged across it. Ruby moaned. It was so intense, the pleasure went so deep. It exploded throughout her body and shook her to the bones. For a brief moment it felt like she had to pee, and a quick squirt came from inside her. She moaned one last hard moan as her body trembled with intense pleasure, and then it faded.

Ruby's fingers moved out of her vagina and was dragged against the skin of her upper body. A wet trail was made, as if a snail had moved its way up her body. She giggled as the orgasm still struck her, and made her feel so good. As if her inner clitoris was a living being, refusing to die down, so it moved in a fit. Ruby dried her hand off on the sheets beside them. Her face moved back and she faced her. The tips of their noses touched.

"Holy shit Saffy." She said enthusiastically, then she leaned in and pressed her lips against hers hard. Sapphire was still out of breath, and breathed hard through her nose. She moved her lower body on top of her and pressed her groin against her right thigh. Sapphire lifted it up, and immediately she felt Ruby move against it. She moved her arm down, opened her vagina lips and pressed them against her thigh, let them slide on top of her. Sapphire sighed with a shaky breath. She could feel her worm slippery lips, could even feel a hint of a small dot in there, which must be her clitoris. Ruby released.

"Oh my god baby you're so beautiful and sexy and MMMMHH!" She whispered fast. Sapphire burst out in a happy laughter, she blushed hard. Ruby throbbed against her hard, she must have been really turned on by what she saw and heard. The thought made her happy. Ruby found her to be sexy, without it being all that she was. It wormed her heart deeply. She grinned, leaned in and kissed her a few times hard. Then she said softly:

"Sit up baby, I wanna see you." Ruby grinned with wide eyes, she giggled with her mouth closed, then she sat up fast. Her legs were spread apart, her beautiful dark skin glistened. It might be her very own sweat, since Ruby had been lying somewhat on top of her this entire time. Sapphire looked down at her vagina, and her slim lips spreading on her thigh. She moved back and forth, the movements made her lips move too. She could feel a few soft hairs tickling against her skin as well. Ruby after all didn't shave away her pubic hairs, everything about her was still beautiful. Sapphire bit her lower lip. A hot shiver went up her spine. She looked up at the rest of her body, her tiny slightly chubby belly moving along with her movements, so did her perky perfectly round breasts. Her beefy arms hung on the sides of her body, her stunning face grinned and blushed. Her eyes stared down at her with excitement.

"You're beautiful and sexy too baby." Sapphire said. She knew how important it was for her to hear that. More so than with herself, she figured. She lifted her hand, stroked at one of her breasts while she still moved.

"When I look at you I just melt, you're so stunning." She continued. Ruby moaned and closed her eyes, smiled from ear to ear.

"You're the most beautiful person I have ever seen." Sapphire added further. Her breaths were worm and shaky, it made her so happy to say it. She had thought so for so long, and she knew it gave Ruby great joy to hear it.

She began to moan more often, and they got louder. Sapphire moved her hands on her hips and pressed her a bit down, all the while helping her move. Ruby moaned a bit louder, her face was relaxed. Her glossy lips were slightly open, and her brows tightened in a soft curve.

"Baby I adore you." Ruby mumbled in a soft whisper.

"I adore you too." Sapphire replied louder and more clearly. Ruby moaned again. Sapphire smiled, realized she had never looked at her like this when she came before. She was looking forward to it.

Ruby began to move faster and harder, her breath was loud, her moans were louder. It was about to happen, Sapphire made an effort to move her faster with her hands. Ruby moved her chin up, opened her mouth a bit more. She moaned. Sapphire could feel weak tingles coming from her groin, as if she hadn't been satisfied before.

"You're so beautiful." She said. Ruby smiled as she moaned, opened her eyes and looked down at her. She lifted her beefy arms and bent them over her shoulders, her gaze and body language for the first time reeked of confidence. Her armpit hair showed, her tiny breasts shock. Her skin glistened in the lamp light. She moved her torso in more intense movements, as if she knew how sexy it looked. And it sure did. Sapphire smiled from ear to ear as Ruby closed her eyes again and moved her chin up. Sapphire moved her torso faster. Ruby moaned again, a long loud one. Her thighs began to shake, her mouth opened wider. Her movements became really strong and swift, but farther between.

"Holy fucking shit." She said loudly, but she didn't outright yell. Then she moaned a long hard moan. When it passed her arms fell down to the sides of her body again, and her chin lowered as well. She smiled with a tired gaze, she was out of breath. Sapphire sat up, placed her arms over her shoulders and tied her hands against her bare back.

"You're amazing." Ruby whispered.

"So are you." Sapphire replied, and then she leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She tilted her head, opened her mouth. Stuck her tongue in and massaged it against Ruby's. Sapphire pressed her to the side, Ruby's back landed in the sheets. The covers had been pushed out of the way before they even started. Sapphire leaned over her, Ruby's feet locked around her tailbone, her hands stroked hard over her back. Worm static traveled up her spine, her heart beat fast in her chest. It never ended. She felt like she had never been happier. And maybe she was right.

* * *

This is the end of Bolts of Acceptance. Not because I am tired of it, but because it has been going into directions I have changed my mind about. But because so many great moments have come forth because of them I have chosen to re-write the whole thing. Go deeper and darker into it and focus more on Ruby and Sapphire. And also the first two chapters won't be total crap. I now know I have the capacity to write long and detailed stories, and intend to make the new "Bolts" something I can truly be proud of. Until the new first chapter is out, which I assume won't be in too long, this will be the last you will see of Bolts of Acceptance. I hope you enjoyed the ride, I sure did. Thank you so much for reading, for caring, for commenting and for re-reading. (seriously, you people re-read this thing so many times it is almost unbelievable). Thank you so much for enjoying this wonderful, sensual and educational and sad story with me. I hope the new Bolts will capture you in the same way that this one did. I promise it will be good, so stay tuned!

For more information about well, everything I just wrote, please go to my tumblr: www. Boltsofacceptance . tumblr . com

Thank you to everyone who has been reading. You mean so much to me.


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